Monstrous Occurrences
by transcendantviewer
Summary: When Maya draws the short straw, (The Vault Hunters literally drew straws) she has to investigate a local bandit stronghold with everyone's favorite Hyperion-Experiment-Gone-Terribly-Right, Krieg.
1. Reasoning with The Beast

**Monstrous Occurrences. **** Chapter 1.**

This is a Borderlands 2 fanfiction that follows a two character campaign that Krieg and Maya endure throughout their careers on Pandora. Takes place in an alternate setting to my previous fanfiction; Angel is still alive and Roland is successfully revived. The Borderlands 2 campaign is concluded. Rated Mature for Language, Blood and Gore, and Sexual Content. Not intended for readers younger than 18.

**Summary:** When Maya draws the short straw, (The Vault Hunters literally drew straws) she has to investigate a local bandit stronghold with everyone's favorite Hyperion-Experiment-Gone-Terribly-Right, Krieg.

**External Perspective.**

Maya followed at a respectable distance from the man she'd been practically forced to go with; just far enough that she couldn't see his eye while he turned back every so often, but not so far that she couldn't smell the blood and rotting flesh on him. Bad things happen when Krieg disappears for any sort of lengthy period of time, all of the Vault Hunters can attest to that… After several minutes of walking, Krieg breaks the uneasy silence with his ever appropriate form of interaction…

"Where are all the Meat Muscles!? I want to dine on their ribcages and garnish my trousers with their brain jellies!" He then fell silent for several moments before beginning to scream at himself. "Shut up, Little Man! You are a tick in my small intestines that I cannot eat and style upon!" Hearing this, Maya just shook her head and started to walk away slowly, holding her hand over the bridge of her nose and sighing audibly.

"Why am I here with the Lunatic of the group? I would have rather been with Salvador… At least he can make himself appear normal for several minutes at a time…"

"You're still here because the Little Man says I can't scalp you with a Salad Spoon!" Krieg blurted, his one visible eye tightly wound into a squint.

"Wait… Who is this 'Little Man'?" she asked, finally paying mild attention to the crazed man before her.

"The one who used to live inside this pain meat; the one that helped; the one that slowly gave in to me!" he said, slowly growing more and more aggressive with each word, taking a step forward as he continued. "He tells me to kill only the ugly and tasteless! I have to obey the words of a meat Popsicle I cannot slice and slurp! My Stomach is clear and my mind is full of bacon!" As he concluded his rant, he stood inches in front of the paralyzed siren, her eyes now forced to look into his one visible one. Her breathing was now fast and frightened and her heart was beating in her throat.

"I… Uh…" Maya stuttered; her eyes wide and her body stiffened by fear. In one foul swoop, he spun around with a grunt and began to walk away, leaving her to try to gather her thoughts and bodily control. She soon recovered and followed at an even farther range as her actions were now slightly conditioned by fear. Maya's fearful mind began playing tricks on her with each step and unpredicted glance at Krieg's back as she followed him. _What the hell did Hyperion do to him to make him like this? _ She thought as she watched him start to laugh as a wave of bandits ambushed the pair, gunning him down and causing him to rage and mutate into his Badass Psycho form. She then continued to watch in horror as he took one by the face and tore him in half with one swipe of his buzz axe. He then took the lower half of the man and threw it at another, knocking him to the ground and causing him to drop his rifle. He was the last Bandit alive and Krieg was closing in to tear him limb from limb. Maya phase locked Krieg's arm, knocking his swing off balance and walked up to him where he stood, her courage returning at that instant. "Don't kill him yet, Psycho. He may have information for us…" She then ghosted a hand over Krieg's mask as he shifted back to normal and stood with an angry look in his eye. She strutted over to the bandit as he tried to shuffle away fearfully as Maya's arm still flared with power. She noticed in the corner of her eye that Krieg was brandishing his Rapier Rifle, getting ready to stab the man in the eye the moment she turned away. Over her shoulder, Maya commented; "If you let him live, he might tell us where his friends are… And if he does, I won't stop you from demolishing every one…" That got his attention. After her saying that, he put away his weapon and stood as straight as he could muster while bloodlust was in his eyes, grunting and groaning as he waited for her to give him the go-ahead. "Now… Where are your friends? Tell me and you'll die quick… Don't and… He'll get a hold of you…" Maya then removed his bandit mask and he glanced over at Krieg, hearing him grumble to himself before beginning to scream and clutch his head, shouting about the little man in his head telling him to stop having thoughts about her. After taking one look at Krieg, the man started to scream and spilled everything he knew. Maya then glanced back at Krieg, who freaked out and started banging his head against a rock. She momentarily loosened her grip of the man's jacket and he started to sprint as fast as he could to escape with his life. Krieg heard the man trip on a rock and went into his Rampage and threw an axe into his spine, causing him to explode instantly as it hit and erupted into a massive dynamite explosion, splashing Maya with the blood and bone splinters, causing her to faint in surprise immediately after glancing at Krieg. Her last thought before losing consciousness was how much Krieg's name was appropriate.

**One Hour Later**

Maya awoke to feel something smooth, sturdy but slightly soft under her stomach, along with a mild pain in her abdomen. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed that she was moving. She looked around and realized that she was being carried, and not only that, but she was balanced on Krieg's shoulder like she'd been carried out of a fire and he was her rescuer, carrying her down the fire ladder. Being as close to her face as he was, Krieg heard her breathing kick and felt her muscles cringe at her position; so he dropped her onto her butt, screaming; "Get back on your Meat Haunches!" Bewildered, she looked up at him as he walked past her without saying another word. Sitting on the ground, slowly regaining her awareness and ability to reason, Maya blinked several times before standing up and starting to follow Krieg as he made his way to the bandit stronghold that the bandit told them about. The journey was silent and long aside from their breathing as they sprinted there and the sounds of several unfortunate creatures on the receiving end of Krieg's Buzz Axe.

When they arrived, bandits were standing and sitting around the opening, minding their own business and toying with their weapons. Krieg took one look around and sprinted in, screaming at the top of his lungs as he looked square at an Ultimate Badass Nomad; "I'll show you what a Badass is!" And with that, he charged in without a second thought, jabbing with his Rapier Rifle's attached blade and gaining direct fire from the surrounding bandits as he hacked away at the Nomad. Maya again watched through the scope of her rifle, taking pot shots at several of the weaker bandits to try to keep them from killing her ally as he began to lose his control. Soon, however, the familiar sound of bones cracking and Krieg's screaming growing deeper and more monstrous filled the air and he began to slice away at the Nomad, ripping into shoulder flesh and shattering his shield and killing the midget attached to it in a bloody explosion. After the Nomad fell, Krieg turned his attention to the others, whose resolve began to falter and their firing momentarily stopped as they looked on in horror before starting to fire again out of desperation and fear. He swung wildly at every bandit that crossed his path, leaving swathes of blood and gory sinus in his wake. Soon, all of the clan was dead and the camp was empty. Realizing that no more bandits were left, Krieg made his way back to Maya at a leisurely pace, wiping blood and various fleshy bits from his skin, laughing maniacally. "I feel glorious in that my love could not satiate their lust for life." He said in a slow, slightly less aggressive tone of voice.

"Um… What?" Maya replied, her eyebrows furrowing in sheer confusion.

"The sounds of their screams made me feel proud of my flesh-sickles." he reiterated. His eye opened with mild confusion at her lack of understanding and he looked back at the carnage behind him. "Do you not understand? Pain is life, and I dispense life to those that wallow in happy indignity."

Again, Maya was at a loss for words and barely understood the insane drabbling of her companion.

"You are a mind walker with flesh; why do you not understand? Even the Little Man understands…" Krieg muttered his last words, clenching his fists. (Because she's sane, you monster; she's immune to your insanity.) Krieg's inner voice said. "Nyah! Get Out Of My Head!" Krieg shouted, smacking himself in the face with his Buzz Axe. Maya looked on in horror and mild disgust as blood began to trickle out from under his mask and he continued to hit himself. "Argh! Let me loose!" he shouted, hitting himself again. Before he landed an eighth hit, Maya stopped him with a hand on his, her face steeled with determination. Krieg looked into her stoic eyes with confusion and annoyance when a soft yet firm voice penetrated his mind…

"Stop this… If you'll allow me, I can give you peace…" The voice called in a distant tone.

(Who's there? How can you speak to me? I'm inside his head…) Krieg's inner voice replied, confusion filling Krieg's mind.

"I can interact with people's minds… One of the benefits of being a siren… Now please allow me to interact with yours… I can help the both of you…" She said in a soft voice, her eyes never leaving Krieg's single visible one as he stared at her blankly.

(No! Get out of here! Now! His mind is too dangerous for you! Get out before it hurts you!) His inner voice shouted back at her, worry filling its near whisper.

"I'm a siren; I can handle myself… Don't worry about me…" Maya replied in a somewhat more playful voice.

Just then, Krieg shouted loudly; "Argh! Now the pretty lady is inside too!? I will not tolerate such an invasion of my gorgeous bacon! You will get out now, Lady, or I'll take your body for my next meat bicycle!" Krieg then took several steps toward Maya while she was in her trance to interact with his mind. Her eyes opened instantly and Krieg began to feel his muscles getting heavy and his body hard to move.

(Remember what I told you? Never an innocent… Never someone who didn't deserve it… You touch her; I end us…) "Ragh! I will not listen to you forever, you whispering infection!" Krieg shouted, walking back to where he was.

Maya stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look into her eyes. "If you two allow me to help; this would stop…"

"Never help me… I will not liquefy your juice and bone flesh for speaking in my head, but you will never help me… The Little Man agrees…" Krieg said in a rare moment of speech that Maya could understand.

"How about I just use this connection to understand what you're saying?" Maya countered in a low, sarcastic voice, causing Krieg to turn from her with a soft grunt. "I'll take that as a yes…" she called blandly behind him.

Krieg again led the pair; his body language cold and slightly less friendly then before – if that was possible. "Alright, bug guy… The map says that the next camp is in that direction. We'll need to jump into it from that large rock there…" Maya said slowly, pointing to the large, jagged rock that looked like a ramp in the middle of The Dust on their map.

"Then find a movement machine so we can have dinner there!" He shouted with mock enragement as he walked over to one of the vender machines to sell some of his items. Maya walked up to the teleporter in The Highlands where they were and booted up the screen for The Dust, waiting for Krieg to finish. Soon after, he was done and exited the menu, allowing Maya to activate the travel. Then in less than several seconds, they stood in Ellie's Garage in The Dust. "Get the saw box… I want to hurl my freedom at the blasphemers…" Krieg grunted, pulling out his Buzz Axe as he stepped up to the garage entrance. Maya reluctantly did as he asked, or rather commanded, and spawned a Bandit Technical for them, hopping into the driver's seat. Krieg followed suit without another word, jumping into the back seat of the technical and pulling out his cursed shotgun. With that, the pair sped off into The Dust's many rolling dunes and expansive sandy perils. They passed several Spiderants while leaving, offering Krieg the opportunity he wanted; He then raged and started throwing axe after axe at the Spiderants, leaving nothing but more blood and fleshy paste in the Bandit Technical's wake. "I love Spring Cleaning!" Krieg shouted with glee, his voice deep and menacing. His rage then wore off and they continued on through the desert. After about another few minutes, the pair reached the rock ramp that the map indicated, and beyond it, the bandit town that they were looking for; so in a rare moment of making sense, Krieg said, "I say we charge those bloody meat sacks and make Salad dressing…" Maya cracked a smile at that and started the afterburner in the Technical.

As the technical reached the end of the ramp, Krieg jumped out, landing on the outer edge of the town while Maya and her car landed in the center of the town, gaining most of the bandits' attention. The car was not exactly standing up to the constant fire of the bandits and she was forced to run out and find cover while her health to regenerate. Her Flame of the Firehawk Shield only took about five shots to shatter and only four more to nearly kill her on the spot as she made her way to a large piece of metal for cover. She then readied her sniper rifle so she could keep them at a range as she allowed her shield to replenish.

Meanwhile, Krieg was raging on the outskirts of the area, tearing into several Goliaths with his axe and laughing as they barely hurt him through his damage reduction. "There's no fence on this fence!" he shouted, his massive arm ripping a chunk out of the last goliath in his way. As the former opponent fell to the ground in a heap, Krieg heard the sound of gunfire and screams of peril. He smiled a wicked smile under his mask and charged forward without a moment's hesitation, screaming at the top of his lungs as he ripped into every bandit he passed on his way to the other screams and the now more apparent sounds of Sniper Fire and dying bandits. Within seconds, he reached his mark and began hacking at enemies as their attention was foolishly drawn to Maya while she picked off one after another. After taking down about five or so, an Ultimate Badass Nomad exited one of the shacks and started to focus Maya, pinning her down in cover. Krieg didn't even notice that the Nomad was attacking her; he just wanted to kill him. "I can't wait to taste your lungs!" he shouted, swinging his axe and clipping the Nomad in the arm that was holding his shield, ripping it away from his body along with his shield. He released a heavy grunt of pain before spinning around and starting to rifle-butt Krieg in the chest with his weapon. Maya was now able to exit her cover long enough to realize that there were two Goliath Blasters getting ready to fire at Krieg while he fought the Nomad; so she fired at each; removing their helmets and leaving them to rage and fight one another while the other bandits were defeated. Only several moments were needed to take care of the rest of the enemies while the Goliaths fought and soon, they too were killed off and the loot was divided.

"Thanks for showing up when you did… They would have killed me off… Death is not something I'm particularly fond of…" Maya said, shuttering slightly while she remembered her ordeal with the order. She looked softly at Krieg as he made several grunts of mild discontent while she spoke.

"Don't move your meat flaps so much… I have enough interns to spank…" he said in a soft, low tone as he started to look around for a place to kill more enemies. Maya just shrugged and walked up next to him and began to scan the horizon for something else for Krieg to demolish in order for him to continue to be reasonable, or at least somewhat reasonable. "Look over yonder, young meat maiden, more blood bags to pulverize!" Krieg shouted, pointing with one of his large fingers toward a group of Spiderants.

"As much as we'd like to let you get all that rage out of your system, Soldier, you two have more pressing matters to attend to… There's a group of Bloodshots attacking Tina's place… She's handling most of them quite well, but more and more just keep coming so she will be overwhelmed…" Roland said over the Echo.

"Alright, we'll be there shortly…" Maya replied with a soft tone of voice.

"Argh! I wanted to spread the hate!" Krieg shouted at no one in particular.

"Relax, Soldier, you'll get your chance soon…" Roland said, deciding to try to reason with the Psycho as to make Maya's work with him easier.

"Grah! Stop Talking To Me!" Krieg blurted out, smacking his head against a piece of concrete several seconds later.

"Sounds like you two are getting along famously… Usually he doesn't do the head thing until you've known him a few days…" Lilith said, entering the call.

"He and I have an… Arrangement… I let him do all the killing, or at least most of it… And in exchange, he and I can have… somewhat… civilized conversations… Ones that don't involve Meat bicycles… It was actually very easy to get him to agree to it, just had to enter his mind to talk with his inner voice…" Maya replied, looking at Krieg as he continued to smack his head against the concrete.

"Now the little man won't shut up! (Don't pretend you don't like it…)" Krieg then shouted, taking hold of his helmet and ramming into the nearest wall. He hit so hard that he fell to the ground. "It hurts! Ha haha! Ha! It hurts!"

"Sounds like he's getting rather comfortable around you… See you two later…" Lilith said to Maya, signing off.

"Get moving Soldiers, Tina needs help…" Roland said authoritatively, also leaving the call.

"Alright, let's go…" Maya said slowly, picking Krieg up by one of his large hands and helping him to his feet. He looked at her with a look or sheer bewilderment.

"Why aren't you stabbing me?" he asked with confusion in his voice.

"Because I'm actually starting to enjoy hanging out with you… And just because you're insane doesn't mean that I would stab you…" Maya replied, laughing softly as he stood straight up before her. She then shook her head lightly and turned away from him to lead them for once. The truly interesting fact was that for the entire trek to the Tundra Express, Krieg was silent; this was worrying to her as she thought about it. _Krieg is never silent; silence means that he's thinking, and thinking for him is never a good sign. Perhaps trying to hang out with a psychopath was a bad idea… and now he's about to snap and attempt to kill me? Or maybe he's thinking of ways to get out of speaking to me?_ She thought. She really didn't know, and that's what scared her; out of all the Vault Hunters, he was the only one that was as unpredictable as Jack was. And she was stuck with him until further notice.

Meanwhile, Krieg was thinking some much different thoughts; (You know; you're actually much more peaceful when a girl has peaked your interests… Maybe you should start dating… I think she's into you…) his inner voice commented. _Nyah! Your brain words make my rubber bands stutter! Now shut up before I have to kill her to shut you up!_ Krieg shouted at his inner voice.

"Um… Hey, Krieg?" Maya's soft yet stern voice beckoned him to look her in the eyes while she spoke. "I was wondering… Do you consider me a friend? Because I was a little worried that you would try to attack me or something… And I don't want to kill you…" she said, her voice adopting a rather predator-like sound. Krieg's visible eye widened as he looked deeply into hers for several moments before beginning to speak.

"Friendship is lies; pain is truth… Love the pain and you'll stay golden…" (Smooth, Cazenovia… Real smooth…) his inner voice chided, laughing softly at him. "What did I tell you?!" Krieg blurted out, smacking himself with his axe again. (Dude, what are you doing?) His inner voice said.

Maya was confused by what she'd heard when she decided to listen in to Krieg's thoughts to try and see what he'd meant. "Um… Krieg? Do… Do you like me?" she asked, drawing his attention away from the voice in his head and his self-mutilation.

"You do not cause my blood to bite at my brain and your words don't make me scream inside, so you need not open your fear flavor packet…" (That's his way of saying that he likes you…) his inner voice interjected, causing Maya to blush slightly while she heard his thoughts. Krieg saw her reddening and looked at her quizzically, wondering what was happening to her. "Your flesh bag is changing bloody… Why do you not die from this!?" he asked in a loud, confused voice. (She's embarrassed, you dolt!) His inner voice commented. "I said silence, you little piece of sadness!"

"I… Uh…" _Oh great, I had to be stuck with the observant lunatic_, she thought, her cheeks burning and her heart racing while Krieg shouted and muttered in rapid succession.

"Your meat flaps make me confused; why are you not speaking?! Your questions yield no birthday cake and your answers offer only questions!" (Stop scaring the girl!) Krieg's inner voice interjected, pulling his attention away from Maya yet again. "She and her happy brood are free of my mischief, NOW SHUT UP!" He fired back, slamming his head down on another rock. (Fine! I'll leave the two of you alone for a minute! Jease, Stop killing us! Just remember our rule…) His inner voice said before falling silent. Krieg then stopped hitting his head for a moment, thinking to himself before smiling dangerously. He turned to Maya and said… "The cockroach is safely back in his saloon, time to speak freely, soldier!" He then took hold of her hand and pulled her to an empty building. When he entered and dragged her with him he said "Speak to the me that stands before you, not the whispering sausage in here…" he then gestured to his head and held eye contact with her.

"I… Um…" Maya stuttered again, looking away with an embarrassed smile on her face. "I don't know what to say to you, Krieg… We're two completely different people…"

"Then say words like those that splatter the walls of other meat popsicles… The sayings about the skies and the wars in your inner minds!" he demanded.

"Wait… you want to talk about the weather?" she asked, confused and a little suspicious.

"I want to feel what you meat bags carry on about; the boring and sorrowful; the constant and painless!" he then stopped mid-rant and settled down a little. "I want to test the blood in the waters to salivate over life or lust…" he continued, his voice quieter and less aggravated.

"I'd be happy to help you, but you need to try to be a little less intimidating… It's easier to talk to you when you're not screaming about blood and meat…" Maya replied, holding out a hand for him to take. After several moments, he did and spoke…

"I am unused to the emotions I am currently feeling…" Krieg said in a soft tone.

"That's good; at least you're feeling something other than rage and bloodlust… I was thinking earlier that you actually aren't that bad as long as you can vent that anger of yours…" Maya said in a calm voice, looking back up into his eyes.

"My anger is my waffles of joy, without them, I am nothing… A bag of bloody pulp and nipple salads…" he muttered, looking down uncomfortably into his and Maya's hands.

"That probably sounded saner in your head, but I understand; you don't like change… Your rage is your constant… It's what you've always known… But sometimes, it's not necessary… Like right now…" Maya replied, causing him to look back up to her, his eye scanning her features for something to register.

"Whatever this is, this melancholy warmth, it is more quiet than it is screaming inside me… I don't know what pancakes to use…" Krieg said, his eye looking slightly pained by confusion.

"I think this is enough for now… I'm somewhat relieved to know that you're able to feel something more than rage and pain… Let's go do something that you like… Up for killing some more Bandits?" Maya asked, her smile growing soft and slightly inviting.

(Oh, yeah… She's definitely into you…) Krieg's inner voice said, causing him to grumble and hold his hand over his eye hole.

**Chapter 1: Reasoning with the Beast. End.**


	2. Life Blood

So what do you all think about my story? Was I close to how Krieg really thinks and acts? I really had to try to get down his form of speech. He was harder than Zero in my other Borderlands Fanfic! Anyway, for those of you that like this story, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!

**Chapter 2: Life Blood. Begin.**

** External Perspective.**

Maya and Krieg were now about half way to Tina's place and were now starting to see frost and ice around in place of dirt and sand. Due to his large build, Krieg was faring well as they walked through the slowly darkening terrain, but Maya was struggling a little more. Her combat suit was not designed for a change in temperature this severe and she was shivering and barely keeping up with Krieg as he trudged through the frosted dirt in his furred shoes. Three Horns Divide was not notorious for being a calm place to live and the Bullymongs were making life all the more difficult for Maya as the pair walked on.

"Hurry your body twitches or the darkness will swallow you!" Krieg shouted back to the shuttering siren. He looked back at her and his eye visibly widened out of surprise when he noticed just hard she'd been taking the cold. Her body was wracked with shakes and her joints stiff while her weapons were holstered and she tried desperately to warm herself with her hands holding her arms.

"I c-can't-t! It-t's t-too c-cold!" Maya said in a shaky, shivering voice. Krieg stopped and began walking back to her to inspect her condition. Her lips were blue beneath her make-up and her skin was covered with goose bumps while her limbs shook and she could barely keep her eyes open.

"The Bloody Gluttons won't get you today…" Krieg said softly, taking her into his arms and walking her to a small overhang that Bullyongs used to use. He then handed her his Infinity Pistol and ran off. After several moments of staring at the new pistol, Maya heard the sounds of Bullymongs screeching in pain off in the distance along with the sounds of Krieg shouting and laughing while his voice grew deeper. She then heard a louder roar from behind her. Confused and startled; her breathing hitching in her throat, Maya turned to see a Bullymong climbing towards her from deeper in the cave system that she was resting in. Panicking, she began to fire, releasing a never ending stream of bullets at the approaching creature, killing it very rapidly. The heat from the gun was sweltering and warmed every inch of her body in combination with her phoenix ability so she just continued to fire the weapon towards the deeper, darker side of the cave from whence the Bullymong came. After what felt to her like almost an hour, Krieg returned drenched in fresh, steaming blood holding a pelt of a rather large Bullyrot, the smell of its natural, pungent corrosive causing Maya to gag for an instant as he stomped closer to her. "You have no idea how many puppies I had to give away for this, Darling, I swear, any more and the zoo would have fired me!" Krieg rambled, sliding the steaming, bloody hide over her shoulders. She grinned sorrowfully up at him as he did, causing him to look into her eyes with confusion.

"Thanks, Krieg… That was very nice of you…" she replied, her smile fading slightly while she now looked away, inspecting the still cherry red barrels of the pistol in her hands before trying to hand it back to him. He didn't accept it at first, just looking at her eyes, trying to understand what she meant by the gesture. "I know how hard it is for you to be kind and not kill others, but I appreciate this."

Krieg just looked at her more before turning from her and sitting down on the edge of the cave entrance. (Don't be an ass, you idiot, talk to her! She feels bad for having you save her and wants a friend, talk to her before she starts to cry, damn it!) Krieg's inner voice shouted at him. Krieg then started to slam his head against the cave wall before stopping and looking to Maya, a slightly less aggressive look in his eye. "Your face is not bright as it was… Don't be less bright… You look like pancakes when you're not bright…" Krieg said in a soft voice, turning to face her more, his buzz axe in his lap and his arms crossed. His words gained Maya's attention, both confusing her and making her blush slightly as she tried to reason what they meant and checking his mind when she came up with no answer.

"You… Y-you think I'm pretty?" she stuttered, panicking slightly, her heart racing in her chest.

"I think you look dead when you aren't bright, and you don't look bright now… I also don't like the things the little man is saying to me so I want you to look bright again…" he replied calmly, his words still causing Maya discomfort. (Goddamn It! That was the perfect time to tell her and your dumb ass ruined it!) "I will murder your dull eyes and replace them with the fire in my belly!" he continued, standing up and jumping out of the cave down into the snow beneath. When he hit the ground, he sank into about four feet of snow, causing him to fall onto his face and sit there like that for a moment before jumping to his feet, flailing his buzz axe in a mildly panicked way. Maya giggled at this, watching him as he now began toying with the snow and several pieces of dynamite. He was there for hours, just tossing Dynamite at the snow, seemingly wasting time in a ridiculous way that was mildly amusing to Maya; but as he continued, she began to see a picture emerge in the dust and burns in the ground and snow. When he was done, he pulled out his Infinity Pistol for the finishing touches on his masterpiece, burning slightly more refined lines in the snow. He then climbed back up to the cave entrance to inspect his work of art. It was an image of his upper half giving the thumbs up and his eye showing signs of amusement.

"Krieg… This… This is amazing! How… How did you do this without even looking at it?" Maya stuttered, still staring at the image on the ground.

"The bacon in my mind makes pictures that I need to murder before smelling them in my eyes. This is how they must be murdered…" Krieg replied, taking a seat next to her at the mouth of the cave. (That's right, you idiot, let your guard down… Let her in…) his inner voice muttered just quiet enough that he could not hear.

"I didn't know destruction could be so… beautiful…" Maya said quietly, placing a hand over her mouth.

"Nnyah… Then you aren't going to the meat ball for your birthday, Louise…" Krieg replied in a strange voice, pulling Maya's attention to him. He then looked to her as her eyes met his mask. (Yes, just look into her eyes… Let the emotions sink in… She might be your last chance to save yourself…) his inner voice said quietly.

"You know, you're not half bad when you can make sense… But your methods need work…" Maya said softly, her impressed look rapidly fading to one of disgust as the bloody smell of the skin around her shoulders filled her nostrils.

"The death will keep you warm…" Krieg said in a low voice, patting on her shoulder before looking back to the outside of the cave. Maya leaned in a little closer to him as the night dragged on and the fur began to dry and cool.

"It's funny… I still remember gunning you down at the train station… You looked just like a bandit and acted like one too… I didn't even think twice after you started talking... But I knew after you killed all those Rats for me that you weren't all bad… And that inner voice of yours was more than enough to prove that…" Maya said in a tired drabble, leaning her head against his shoulder, her eyes closing. "Mm… What were you thinking back then?" she continued, nestling into his shoulder more.

"I was locked with an internal struggle with my inner putrefaction… The words slithering in my inner lobes were clawing out and making me listen…" Krieg said in an only slightly loud voice.

"I have no idea what that means… But I'm glad that I didn't kill you back then." Maya said in a preoccupied voice.

"The sent is stoic and resealed…" Krieg replied in a deep, serious tone, inadvertently pulling her to open her eyes and stare at him.

"Uh… What?" she asked, confused again that day.

(Perhaps I should clarify; He meant "The sentiment is understood and reciprocated." Better?)

"Um… Yeah." Maya replied, smiling slightly as she lowered her head back onto Krieg's shoulder. She remained practically motionless like this for about a minute before a thought crossed her mind. "Hey, Krieg… Uh… Do… um… Do you want to… try chatting again?" she asked uneasily, thinking that she'd regret that question.

"Mmm" he grumbled, nodding in affirmation, still looking out into the distance as night finally began to strip away the last bits of twilight.

"Uh… Where to start… How do you like Pandora?"

"The light fills my lungs with bloody joy… The sands make my toes taste the wind… And the death allows my ears to smell the loving pain…" Krieg said as calmly as he could muster. Maya cracked a slight smile and asked another question.

"Is there anywhere you maybe want to go after this whole Vault Hunting thing is over? Like after we've gotten rid of enough of them to eliminate the danger."

"I want to lick the sunset and see the coral of my outer limits…" Krieg replied, now glancing back at her as he spoke.

"I'm not sure that answered my question… Would you like to go somewhere after we start heading our separate ways or do you want to stay on Pandora?" Maya asked, raising an eyebrow as she asked again.

"(I would like to find a nice quiet place to live and try to regain some semblance of sanity… But with this oaf here, that's not likely…) Nipple Salads! (…Exactly…) Never stop the killing! Never!" Krieg shouted, his chest muscles tensing and his hands clenching into fists. "(He's going to want to take down as many things in his life as possible… Which is fine as long as it's never an innocent…) I want to taste the blood of everything! (So… I'd say he'll want to go to Promethia… _Woot; killing Atlas!_ That was sarcastic by the way…)" Maya laughed lightly at this and leaned her head back down onto Krieg's shoulder while darkness completely settled in and the stars began to flicker in the black skies.

"Yeah… I figured as much… I don't know what I'll do myself… Maybe keep looking for other sirens? I think that for the first time in my life, I've ran out of ideas of what to do…" Maya replied with a mildly dismissive smirk, lifting her head from Krieg's shoulder. Her smirk then slowly faded away as the smell of her skin blanket again played on her nose. "…But I do know I never want to wear something this… Fresh… Again…" she added, rubbing some of the blood from her tattooed shoulder.

"(Yeah… That wasn't the greatest idea, but it was the only option at the time…) I disagree!" Krieg interrupted, pulling out his Infinity pistol and tossing it to Maya. "Now hurt me 'till you love me! (Wait… What?!)" Maya just looked down at the pistol in her lap in confusion.

"You… want me to… shoot you?" Maya asked bewildered.

"YEESSS!" Krieg shouted, standing up. Maya then stood up and began firing into Krieg, the fire of the Incendiary Infinity igniting him into his Hellborn fires. "Yes! I embrace the flame!" He then took hold of the pistol in Maya's hands and put it away, pulling away her skin blanket as well. He then took hold of her shoulders and pulled her close into a tight hug, warming her with his burning body." (Holy Crap! The Lunatic actually had a good idea!)" Krieg's inner voice chided.

As Krieg held Maya, she slowly relaxed, letting the flames warm her instead of trying to use her powers to control them. Her tattoos glowed a soft orange and the flames turned clear and slithered over the both of them, no longer burning either of them, only warming the two as they held to one another. The blood burned away and left Maya clean and blood-free.

"Krieg; Thank you…" Maya said in a relaxed voice, tightening the embrace as they lowered themselves to the ground. She held to him until she fell asleep in his arms, her powers still keeping the fires burning without burning and her body shifting to fit his better while she rested.

"(That was a good thing that you did for her… I'm very happy that you could help her like that…) The Pretty Lady does not deserve to refrigerate… She and her brood are spared my French fry Revolution… (I guess that's as much as I can hope from you…) Now leave me to my peaceful gallows…" Krieg said quietly, his inner voice then retracted and left him to the silence of the night.

Several hours then pass as Krieg thought to himself and Maya slept in his arms, lulled into a peaceful sleep by the still burning heat of the tamed flames and Krieg's body heat. The hours ticked away both slowly and quickly for the insane man lodging with the sleeping siren. Maya awoke later in the dark, strange twilight of the early Pandoran day nearly eight hours later. Krieg, by that time, was sitting patiently while he waited for her to wake up and ready herself.

"Mmn… Ngah… Ah damn… Why did Tina have to need help? I just want to go back to Sanctuary now…" Maya muttered groggily as she lifted herself from Krieg's shoulder and got her bearings.

"(The Bloodshots need to be taught a lesson in respecting us and our friends…) And I want to rip their eyes out with their own pelvises and make a rattle out of their teeth that I can use to signal the impending death knell of my kitten's chimney sweep!"

"I think that is the single most insane sentence you've ever said in my presence; Congrats for that… Anyway, let's get going…" Maya replied, checking her equipment.

"(Yeah, he's getting used to you… I think if you keep this up, he'll actually be able to reason with you on a human level in a few weeks…) The words of my grandfather clock will resonate within the echoing chambers of the earth and the stars with the troubling energies of the days long given up to the bleeding ponies of the dreams that I've always had since I was a little girl!" Krieg said, his arms flailing at his side slightly as he rambled. "(Yeah… I think he's really warming up to you, Maya… Just don't set him off and you two will get along just fine…) The words in my brain will muddy the hollow beauty that is the green horizon in my rear-view mirror!" Krieg shouted.

"I'm… Uh… I don't know how to react to that…" Maya replied slightly confused as she thought about what he'd said.

"(I think you just shouldn't react at all…) Then silence shall condemn your soul to forever quiet!" he answered, his one visible eye widening with mild frustration.

"Um… 'kay… So… I'm just going to start getting ready…" Maya replied slightly confused again, sifting through her pack for her brush and began fixing the damage to her regular hair style due to her sleep. Krieg just observed her quizzically while she brushed her hair back into form and then pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste.

"(Yeah, you oaf, that's what it looks like to take care of yourself… Instead of using skag talons to pick your teeth…) The bristled communism that the omega uses to rectify the remnants of the deserving is not of my conscience…"

"Wait… I actuawy undewstood that one…" Maya commented, her words distorted while she brushed her teeth.

"(Yeah, he is getting better… Not much though…) Nyah! The slow passing mollusks in this rocket-ship are only adding to what fills the box-cars in my train collection! I want to model more portraits after the lightning bolts in my sternum!" Krieg shouted, pulling out his Unkempt Harold and beginning to slash at the walls of the cave with the large blade on the bottom of it. He soon dug a small hole into the side of the cave that was just wide enough to see through and watch for enemies of some kind for him to kill to preoccupy himself with. "Why is there everything nowhere?!" Krieg shouted, beginning to bang his head against the wall, causing the small crack to widen as stone shook and fell out of it. (Goddamn is he pissed off! If he doesn't find something to preoccupy himself, he'll kill the both of us… And that included you, Maya…) Krieg's inner voice commented as Krieg continued to bang against the wall.

Krieg then wound up for one last head-butt when Maya Phase-Locked him into a ball of energy just as his head came in for the impact. She then walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Krieg; you can stop now… Just give it a few more minutes and we'll get going to help Tina… Just hold on and calm down…" she said, taking a step back for him when he dropped out of the lock and hit the ground on one knee. He then stood up and stared at her with obvious rage in his eye before turning from her and speaking in a slow, quiet tone that was the most terrifying that Maya had ever heard in her life…

"The next time that your ball of consumption touches my wrath, my axe will not stop at just the cockatiel…" He said, his body rigid with rage. He then looked over his shoulder and glanced at Maya with the single most unnerving looks that anyone had ever given her. She'd been seen as a god and a priestess, a monster and a murderer, but never like she'd just been now… Krieg's eye gazed into hers with the intent that a wolf has just before mauling the smallest buffalo in a herd and tearing it limb from limb. He then turned from her again and just stood there, rigid as a statue while he waited for Maya to finish her daily activities. She then heard Krieg's inner voice. (He's in one of the deepest fits of anger that I've ever seen him… You'd better do something to calm him down or he might revert back to what he was before you met him… A soulless, murdering, Psychopath…)

"K-Krieg?" Maya stuttered as she placed a hand on his shoulder gently, pulling his attention towards her. He then glared at her with the same murderous look, causing her breathing to hitch and her body to start to tense and her mind to cloud with thoughts of running away from him as quickly as she possibly could. "I… I uh…" Maya then gulped audibly out of fear before continuing. "I'm sorry for what I did, even if this apology doesn't mean anything to you… I won't do that to you again; I promise… You may not be the most sociable guy… Or even the sanest for that matter; but you're a good person… Even if it's covered up by all the blood and murder and comments about meat and killing… I don't want you to stop being one of the team because of this… I'd like to be your friend… I'm just really sorry…" Maya finished, looking at the ground. _Damn… That sounded better in my head… I don't think he'll ever forgive me… I'm not even sure that he can forgive… I shouldn't have even interfered with what he was doing… I shouldn't even have started talking to him… At least when he and I were just allies, things were simple; kill things and get the job done… Now I have to deal with all this guilt and anger…_ _Everything would have been simp-_ her thoughts were then interrupted by one of Krieg's heavy hands on her left shoulder, calling her attention back up to his covered face.

"Words are usually just nothing but the carousel that the sadness phoenix uses to fly into my sinews and slaughter my innocent Tuesdays… But yours were painful to taste and have altered the avalanche of murder that I was to compose with toothpicks… Your record is exonerated…" Krieg said in a slow voice, trying to make sense as he spoke.

"Thank you, Krieg… You're a good friend…" Maya replied in a low tone as her eyes began to water. "Let's get going then…" she continued, wiping away her tears and pasting on a façade of joy.

The pair then made their way out of the cave slowly. Krieg just hopped down onto the ground and waited for Maya as opposed to what he would usually have done; which would have been to drop to the ground and sprint off towards the first enemy that caught his eye. He was standing patiently below Maya while she dropped and caught her by the hips when she was mere feet from the ground. She stared at him momentarily while he just looked down at her with a simple light-hearted aura about him that made Maya's mind burn with confusion. The two then continued on their journey.

Step by step, Maya's mind began to weigh her down with the ever increasing questions and uncertainty that surrounded her fellow Vault Hunter and newest friend. _What happened to him that made him so happy? Why is he being so nice to me now? Just a moment ago, he practically told me that he'd tear me limb from limb if I ever Phase Locked him again… Could my words really have made him feel that good or happy? Can he even really get happy? I mean, he can forgive, so maybe he can be happy too…_ Maya thought as she walked behind the Psycho. Again, his behavior was off; he wasn't sprinting or asking her to hurry up- he was just walking as happy as could be… _Something strange is going on here and I need to know as soon as possible…_ Maya continued to think, her eyes still trained on the thick, strong build of Krieg's shoulders. Maya then felt a soft warmth in her chest as she looked at him and he peaked over his shoulder and his one visible eye softened with joy. She felt her cheeks burn and she looked away, wide eyed and blushing wildly.

(Well… She's already losing her cool whenever you look at her, Big Guy… Keep this up and she'll kiss you before the days done…) _I am unused to the emotions that I am currently feeling! _Krieg thought in response to his inner voice's comment. (Yeah, I thought as much… Forget I said anything…) his inner voice commented with a dismissive attitude.

_Oh god, oh god. Oh god! …Wait… Why am I freaking out?! What the hell is going on?! Be cool, Maya… Be cool… Come on, damnit! Get yourself together… You've already put Axton in his place hundreds of times; why is Krieg any different? Just act casual…_ Maya thought frantically as she looked away from Krieg, staring at the frosted ground and snow as they walked on.

(Hmm… She's really losing it over there… Maybe we should say something?) _Her meat flaps are still so I'll sanctify my goblet of gardens…_ Krieg thought as he still led Maya through the beginnings of the Tundra Express. (You sure? If you act fast enough, you might get her to blush again…) his inner voice interjected wryly. _Hmm…_ Krieg thought. He then turned around to Maya again and smiled at her under his mask again, causing his eye to appear amused and making her look away and her blush to intensify. _Hehe… The blood in her face skin makes the fire inside my belly kick at my ribcage in joyful puppies!_ (Yeah, big guy, that's what it feels like to actually like someone instead of just the blood inside them… I told you that you'd like her eventually…) _No more words now or I'll kill you…_ Krieg thought back towards his inner voice in a mildly playful manner. (Yeah, yeah… I get it… You want some time to yourself… that's fine, just don't do anything too stupid…) his inner voice replied in a knowingly chipper attitude before receding back into the deeper corners of his mind. Krieg then continued thinking to himself.

_What the hell is going with me?! Every time he even looks at me, I blush and have to look away! I never got anywhere near this nervous when he and I were barely on speaking terms! I didn't feel this uneasy when the Order took me in and treated me like a Goddess... _Maya thought.

By this time, Krieg and Maya had reached the outskirts of Tundra express and were now staring at the frozen skeleton of some prehistoric creature, its head sticking out of the ice next to a snowman. Krieg just looked at the snowman and pulled out his buzz axe, winding up for a swing strong enough to rip a man in two. Maya saw this and managed to sober herself back to her normal collected nature. She then took his buzz axe from his hands and walked ahead of him, twirling it in her hands. "Have you ever seen a snowman before? They're not alive and they're certainly not threatening…" she said, mocking him while she strutted laps around her companion.

"You will return my watermelons before it is turned rabid and honorific!" Krieg shouted, pointing to his Buzz Axe. Maya just grinned at him and kept tossing it up into the air and catching it while she made her way around him even slower with more play in her eyes. She made several more laps before she was ripped toward Krieg by one of his large hands on her forearm. She was pulled at the proper angle to spin around several times on her toes before being pressed flush to his muscular chest while his hands tightened around her shoulders and his eye looked into one of hers then the other with what appeared to have been anger. His hard expression in his eye faded several moments later and was then replaced by an ominous playfulness that made Maya feel uneasy again. His mask moved closer to her face and she could feel his breath in his chest as he inhaled and pressed his musculature to her body. She began to feel hot and unnerved as her breath hitched in her lungs and her eyes simply stared into his one visible one. She felt her strength start to fail her and her body heating up all over so she began struggling as best she could to try to get out of his arms when he spoke softly into her ear. "Your fires fill me with an angry joy, Pretty Lady…" He then pulled his axe from her shaking arms and took several steps away from her and looked into her eyes one last time before turning from her and beginning to walk on ahead at a slow pace with his axe in hand. (Well… I wasn't expecting you to ever have a way with words but it looks like you definitely took her breath away with that one…) Krieg's inner voice snickered. _The words are only as powerful as the bloody steel used to forge them…_ Krieg muttered internally in response. (Holy Crap; that made sense!) his inner voice replied in bewilderment. _Words are pointless and slow; blood and bone are strong and forever!_ Krieg said quietly before returning his focus back to his path in the Tundra Express. Said path then led him through a large group of Varkids as they began to drop out of their hives. He looked around and just cracked his neck as he pulled out his Buzz Axe and ran in shouting. "I am the Walrus! Me! All Me! Everyone Else! Sit Down!" he bellowed, slashing wildly as he sprinted into the crowd of the large insects. Maya watched with curiosity as he just ran around shouting some of the strangest things that she'd ever heard him shout – the majority of which was simply unintelligible screaming and laughter at the warm goop that showered him as his axe ripped them apart. His rage quickly subsided when he realized that there were no more varkids to kill and he strolled back to Maya with an accomplished spring in his step.

"Feel better?" Maya asked in a slightly condescending tone.

"Across the golden chasm, the light grinds a beautiful green and red as I call upon thee to diminish my precious heirlooms by one!" Krieg shouted in response, closing his eye with glee. (Even I didn't understand that one…)

"Uh… Alright… Let's get going…" Maya replied slightly unnerved by his spirited attitude. _Is it just me, or is he getting happier?_ She thought as she turned from him and started to lead him toward Tina's, glancing back every so often to check on him. Every time she'd looked back, he looked just as joyful as before. _Huh… I guess he really likes killing things… But then… Why wasn't he like this before?_ Maya thought to herself as she continued walking.

(You know; you're diabolical…) _Your inside sounds aren't useful in aiding intestinal distress! Quiet, mole!_ Krieg fired back. (Hey! Whoa! Where's this coming from?) _Your words distract from the power outages!_ Krieg replied, managing to keep his chipper exterior for whenever Maya turned back to glance at him. (So… You really are playing with her… Interesting…) _Silence your sorrow shillings!_ Krieg said hurriedly, forcing his attention back to the outside world while he continued following his siren compatriot.

"You weren't invited! Die! Wait! …Oh Daaammmmmn! What's up, Mah Ho? Why ain't choo call ahead like these fuine ass ladies?" Tina shouted to Maya and Krieg as they stepped into her place and the massive steel door closed behind them.

"Why indeed, Maya/ I'd like to know the delay/ You're normally swift…" Zero stated, reappearing several feet behind Maya as he put away his blade and stood straight up.

"Yeah, what gives?! With Krieg with you, you should have been here hours ago!" Gaige shouted, unloading her Fibber Pistol and cracking her mechanized knuckles with metallic clanks and clicks.

"The Bugbears would not allow us safe passage without answering their riddles three…" Krieg replied in a less than enthusiastic voice, strolling over to the battered couch next to Tina's workshop and sitting down.

"What?" Axton asked, confused to the point of scratching his temple. Zero just flashed a question mark while turning towards Krieg. Gaige and Tina were the only ones to understand what he'd said.

"Wait… So… You had to kill _that _many varkids just to get here? And you're not happy about it? What the hell happened to the Psycho, Maya?!" Gaige shouted, looking angrily at the group's siren.

Maya just looked at her with a pained expression trying to understand as well when Krieg's inner voice entered her mind. (He's sad that he can't be alone with you anymore, siren…) This comment left Maya's mind in a daze and her head feeling light so she walked over to the couch and dropped down next to Krieg, holding her temples. "*Sigh*… Alright… I didn't do anything to him… he's just sad that there's nothing left to kill…" Maya then glanced over at Krieg and winked at him quickly when his eye met hers. He then nodded and sank deeper into the torn and stained cochins.

"Well, there's always more bandits… Do you want to kill them, Sweety?" Gaige asked Krieg in a motherly tone, pulling at his sleeved arm.

(Just play it cool…) his inner voice commented. "MmmHmm…" Krieg replied, nodding and instilling the single most saddened look in his eye that any of the Vault Hunters had seen in him. (Wow… That was really convincing… Are you really insane or is that an act too?) his inner voice said in a confused voice.

**End Chapter 2: Life Blood.**

So how was it? I'd love to hear all the reviews…


	3. Blood Boil

Okay, everybody; I've been brainstorming about some stupid builds for use in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode and came up with what could either be the build for Krieg that breaks the game or gets him killed the most of any character… Um… So… Yeah… What you do is farm Blue in standard mode to get a level 30 or so Fabled Tortious so it only has a small capacity and only takes like a 1000 or so off of your health. Then you re-spec so your shield takes a really long time to start recharging and get a class mod that adds to this skill… Your shield will be so small that it'll always break after one hit and you'll practically always have the speed bonus from having it broken. You'll become the single fastest killing machine on Pandora… If you're really good at juking and dodging, this build becomes really powerful but does not leave room for error; you really need to practice with this build to get used to the bonus movement. And if you use it properly, this speed bonus adds during Blood Axe Rampage as well, and I believe can be further boosted due to the movement speed increase while raging… So, I just thought I'd share that build for anyone thinking of doing something silly and fun… Alright; to the story!

**Monstrous Occurrences Chapter 3: Blood Boil. Begin.**

Gaige started pulling Krieg softly from the tattered couch and to his feet so that the massive man loomed over her while she just looked up to him and smiled. Krieg continued acting depressed and returned the smile with one that was sickly sweet and melted all the other Vault Hunters' hearts – aside from Zero and Maya that is. Gaige just jumped into a tight hug around his mid-section, starting to cry while Axton and Salvador hugged, crying in a very Anime-esque fashion. Maya pretended to melt – an east task due to the fact that no one had ever seen her down before and Zero just flashed a repeating pattern of question marks and exclamation points as his shoulders slumped and he rubbed the side of his faceplate. Maya stood up and took Krieg by the hand and tapped Gaige on the shoulder lightly to get her to look up.

"I'm going to take Krieg out for some Bandit Killing… I'd invite the rest of you to come, but Gaige'll drop him with all those random bullets that do ridiculous amounts of damage, Axton; your turret might end up shooting him to death or taking all his kills to survive. Zero; well… You know…" Zero nodded in reply, remembering what had occurred between him and the psycho when they first met… Bad memories for the assassin. "And… well… Sal… You two would just end up killing each other…" Maya pointed out, gesturing to the hulking short man. Sal just shrugged in a knowingly dismissive movement, agreeing silently; as did Krieg, still maintain his façade of sorrow. "Then it's settled; I'll take him out and the rest of you chill here with Tina and keep watch for more bandits…" Maya finished, leading Krieg out and towards the massive door and pushing the release. They just walked silently for several moments before they were about a kilometer from Tina's Place. "Alright, Big Guy, what's really the matter?" Maya asked in a motherly tone, causing Krieg to look down to her with a slightly innocent look that made her stutter a moment.

(Hey, man, you can stop now… You're eerily good at that…) Krieg's inner voice broke in. He then stopped his act and looked to her with a more playful gaze. "The eye of the mountain sees all, but this eye swallows the light of painful living… (He means that he's very good at acting because he's seen pain so much that he knows how to mimic it…)"

"So you've been perfectly fine this whole time?" Maya asked, slightly confused and irritated.

Krieg nodded in genuine regret; his eye sinking to the ground as he prepared for her berating words of siren fury. (Oh, shit… She's going to tear into us. Hard…) his inner voice commented, causing Krieg to squint his one eye in fear and slightly cower under Maya's gaze. He was shocked out of his fear by Maya laughing loudly. He opened his eye to get a better look at her; she was holding her nose with her hand, covering her face while she laughed loudly, holding her side and nearly falling to the ground. Krieg just looked at her with confusion in his eye. (Um… We both missed that one, man…) Krieg's inner voice said; Krieg just nodded as the two personalities just continued to look at their laughing comrade. Maya eventually had to put a hand on his shoulder and ease herself onto the ground.

"*Laughing* Holy Crap! Ah-haha-hahaha… Mmm *Inhales* *Snickers, attempting to stop laughing before losing control* Hahahaha! H-how… *Laughs* How did you…? *Continues laughing* H-ho-how Di-id you manage that o-o-one!?" Maya asked between fits of laughter, rolling on her back.

At this particular moment, Krieg wished that he had Zero's helmet so he could project his confusion with a massive, red question mark. He and his inner voice just continued looking at the laughing siren on the ground before looking around awkwardly. Maya soon stopped and rolled back onto her legs to sit cross-legged on the ground, patting on the ground next to her. Krieg sat down and looked into her eyes, waiting for her to start talking.

"Whoo! Thanks for that… I really needed a good laugh, Krieg… I feel better… Now… How *Giggles* Hrm… How did you actually do that so long? I mean… You even convinced Zero!" Maya said enthusiastically, waving her arms expressively.

"(You might not believe it, but it's very difficult to read an insane man…) The words of the straight and narrow are simple and slow while the styles of the fiery and dying are plentifully delicious!"

"O-o-oka-a-ay…" Maya replied, still giggling lightly. She then lifted herself up onto her feet with Krieg's help and started walking with him again.

(You're actually getting better at that whole interacting thing…) Krieg's inner voice said in a sarcastic voice. _Shut up!_ Krieg replied, bashing his head with his axe as he followed Maya towards one of the bandit strongholds. Maya just looked back and cracked a smile, shaking her head. Krieg noticed this and immediately replied in a slightly aggravated tone, "Are there any thoroughbreds in the stables?" Maya just chuckled again and looked back to the path.

"No, Krieg, I don't have any thoughts to add…" Maya replied, actually being able to understand his ramblings easier now. Krieg stopped and stared at Maya momentarily as confusion filled his mind.

(She wasn't in our mind, Big Guy… I think she really can understand you now…) _Then she will unanimously delegate this fire walk as well… _Krieg answered, shaking free of his confusion to begin speaking again. "The canary in my detained mustard and shoe polish is full of the pain of lime soda!" he shouted, calling Maya to stare at him.

"Either you just told me that you needed to go to the bathroom or that you love me… I have no idea how to react to either one…" She replied, an air of sarcasm in her voice.

_Your mind sounds were well colored…_ Krieg said in a soft, confused voice inside his mind as he spoke to his inner voice. (Uh… Yeah…) his inner voice replied in a slightly bewildered voice.

Maya just smirked and turned back around and continued leading Krieg towards a small bandit outpost. In several moments, they passed several varkid nests and heard the sounds of large rifle fire. Krieg heard the gunshots and immediately began sprinting towards the sounds. Maya shook her head before pulling out her Volcano Rifle and following at a distance.

"Ah! Hello, Vault Hunters! Good to see the both… Well… Good to see you again, Lady Maya…" Sir Hammerlock said, greeting the pair as they came closer. He then holstered his hunting rifle and sat down on a rock, waving the other two closer.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Maya asked, putting away her rifle as well while she sat down beside the avid hunter.

"Well, after my failed experimentation on varkid podding habits, I decided that I should learn more about the creatures themselves. And so I came here!" Hammerlock replied, smiling in his characteristic grin as he adjusted his glasses.

"Alright. Need any help? Krieg and I were on our way to kill some bandits, but this could be just as interesting…" Maya said, glancing over to Krieg.

"Oh, would you? I sure could use the help! I need them dead anyway, so your friend won't have any problems." Hammerlock answered happily.

"Alright… What do we need to do?" Maya asked, standing up from her seat on the rock.

"I need one dead of each variant of them… One Larva, one adult, one Badass, one Super Badass, and one Ultimate Badass… Shouldn't be too hard for young go-getters like you… I'll leave you to it… I'll be up here observing their attack patterns!" Hammerlock said as he hopped up onto his feet and trotted up to a large rock, pulling out his rifle.

Maya walked off with Krieg in toe towards the small shack on the outskirts of the Tundra Express. When his eye met with all of the varkids, Maya called his attention to her. "Alright… You can kill one as a larva now, then let one or two pod up… Kill one as an adult, then allow more to pod up… You're going to want to always have a few of them around in the level before they changed… Like five or six larva and two or three adults to make a badass… Got it?" Krieg just looked at her, his eye full of bloodlust and his hands on his Buzz Axe, shaking readily. "*Sigh* Fine… Go… Just make sure not to kill them all…" Maya said, rubbing the bridge of her nose and sitting down on a rock about a kilometer away and looking down the scope of her rifle. She watched as Krieg equipped his severely under-leveled Fabled Tortious Shield and stomped towards them. They broke it instantly and he began doing laps around them as his health regenerated off the damage and he continued to aggravate them. The heat of the daylight and the boredom of simply sitting caused Maya to drift off to sleep on her rock.

**Two Hours Later**

Maya felt a hard jerking at her shoulder force her back to the waking world. She looked around in a panic while she felt her body being shaken and held tightly by something strange and small but powerful. She opened her eyes to see that she was in Krieg's arm. However, he was mutated and holding her on his shoulder by his small arm while using his massive arm to swing wildly at wave after wave of charging varkids and his shield broken so that his movement speed was accelerated. Again she was sitting on his shoulder like he'd rescued her from a burning building and she was positioned so that she could look behind him. She opened her eyes to look and saw something terrifying… Vermivorous was positioned on a rock ledge above them, hissing and firing off Bug Bombs at the pair. Maya's eyes widened and she started panicking in Krieg's arm while he continued sprinting toward the shack. Hammerlock was already there, firing at some of the larger varkid as they followed Krieg. Maya then heard Krieg's inner voice beckon to her. (Easy, Siren… If he drops you, you're dead…) she then eased her struggle and allowed Krieg to continue carrying her while she pulled out her pistol and fired into the crowd of still coming varkids. She then noticed that Krieg was slowing down; his shield was recharging. So she put the gun barrel to his spine and fired, breaking his shield and allowing him to sprint faster again.

"Get her inside, Man! She'll be safe in there! Then get back out here and help me kill these retched things!" Hammerlock shouted to Krieg as he finally entered the door of the cabin and carried Maya down the ladder and to the fast travel station. He then climbed back up to stand next to Hammerlock and pulled out his KerBlaster and started opening fire, turning one varkid after another into green and yellow paste. After all the others were dead, Krieg directed his fire towards Vermivorous and his bombs. The seeking swarms of exploding insects hit Krieg only once and his shield again broke, allowing him to rage and hit the massive insectoid with his exploding axes, effectively stunning it and preventing it attacking any longer. While it was stunned, Hammerlock began walking out of the cabin as well, aiming for more damaging spots on the creature as well. Maya climbed back up the ladder enough to stand with her elbows and her rifle on the floor as she balanced on the ladder. She began taking pot-shots at Vermivorous's eyes and abdomen. The beast screeched and moaned in pain as bullet after bullet and Buzz Axe after Buzz Axe bombarded it, quickly taking a massive chunk of its health. Krieg's Blood Axe Rampage soon wore off and he was back to firing with his KerBlaster as he waited for the creature to start hitting him again; which didn't take long as nothing was there to stun it anymore and he was the closest target. In one hit, he was near death again and his shield was broken; he immediately raged and transformed again. Rinse and repeat… The beast continued to stand on its ledge, shrieking in pain and getting staggered while Krieg, Maya, and Hammerlock tore it apart.

Soon, it dropped down onto the ground to attempt one last attack on them; only to continue to be bombarded by exploding axes and sniper fire. However, Krieg's shield was recharged, so he had to slowly make his way towards the beast; that is until Hammerlock blasted him in the spine to break his shield again. He ran up on the varkid monstrosity and swung once more, cleaving its head clean off. The body shook and took several shuffled steps before dropping to the ground motionless.

"Never interrupt me!" Krieg shouted, running up to the severed head and picking it up with his large arm and tossing it up into the air. He then pulled out his Buzz Axe and swung at it; effectively shredding it apart and showering himself in the green and yellow goop that was its insides, cackling with horrid glee. He then morphed back to normal and strutted back to the cabin with Hammerlock in toe.

"Bloody Hell, Man! Why would you do that!?" Hammerlock shouted, covering his nose.

"He wanted to celebrate the kill… He's done it when we killed Terramorphous too…" Maya replied, putting away her rifle.

"But Terramorphous is a Thresher… How in Pandora did he manage to decapitate it after you all killed it?" Hammerlock asked in a confused voice, turning to Maya.

"He jumped down the hole left after we defeated it and single-handedly pulled it all the way out of its hole and hollowed it out like a gourd… Made a house out of it…" Maya elaborated.

"All by himself? How long was he there?" Hammerlock asked, glancing over to Krieg as he bashed his Buzz Axe against the wall of the shack to do his best to sharpen it.

"No, he had Salvador help out… They ate what they didn't want… And they were there for about two days… They caught up with us later…" Maya said in a dismissive voice.

"Well, did they make it last? I would like to investigate the specimen…" Hammerlock asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Yeah… Surprisingly… Somehow, they managed to treat it with something to harden it into an actual structure… I don't even want to know what they used…"

"I guess even the insane can have good ideas…" Hammerlock retorted.

"Yeah… Might have something to do with his inner voice telling him what to do…" Maya answered matter-of-factly.

"I suppose… Although I didn't know he had something like that…"

"Neither did I until I read his mind and heard it talking to me… It turns out that it's the only reason that he hasn't killed good people yet…" Maya said, turning towards Krieg as he continued "Sharpening" his Buzz Axe.

"Mnagh! Let the sun rain down on me!" Krieg shouted, hopping to his feet and brandishing his axe.

"We should find something else challenging to kill… He's getting restless… In the meantime, you should go check out the Terramorphous Cottage at Terramorphous Peak…" Maya said as she started walking up behind the large, insane man.

"Right you are! Tallyho!" Hammerlock replied, jogging off. Soon, he was out of sight and Maya and Krieg were continuing on their journey towards some bandits or something satisfying to kill. Soon, out of the corner of his eye, Krieg caught a glimpse of a small shack with a single bandit sitting on the railing of a very small porch with an assault rifle in hand as he looked to the complete opposite direction of the pair. Krieg didn't even rage at the bandit; he simply tossed a buzz axe at him and watched as the bandit erupted into a bright, blinding explosion and leaving a rather oddly shaped blood smear on the railing and small porch of the very secluded cabin.

Some of the blood and gore landed at Maya's feet, causing her to grimace and look back to Krieg in disgust. "Aww, man… Could you at least warn me when you're going to paste a guy? I want to be able to keep all of the brains and liver goop out of my hair and from under my fingernails, thank you very much…" Maya reacted, wiping some spleen off of her shoulder and kicking a femur as it rested at her feet.

"The red mist is so nutritious!" Krieg shouted, picking up the femur that Maya had kicked and put it away for later. Maya just shook her head. And walked around her insane companion as he began collecting meat and organs and put them into his pack for later "Use". (Wow, you're a people person; aren't you?) "I grow infatuated by your inflamed appendix! GWRAH!" Krieg shouted, taking a large arm bone and beating it against his head. Maya just shook her head again and looked away from him as he continued to beat himself.

"Can we break up this little love fest before you kill yourself? We've got places to be…" Maya said sarcastically as she turned from their direction and began leading Krieg back to Tina's shack.

Wordlessly, Krieg protested Maya's decision by flailing his arms not unlike a child begging for a toy as he followed her. "No, Krieg; you already killed enough for right now. We're going back. There'll be more bandits to kill and liquefy tomorrow… You can wait until then." Maya said sternly, glancing back at Krieg with a look in her eye that made him stop his silent tantrum. (Never seen him shut up that fast…) his inner voice commented when Maya looked away, causing her to smile faintly as she continued leading the pair. Without anything to kill, the pair returned to the shed and knocked on the metal door in a manner that all the others recognized-Krieg's familiar head banging and him screaming at his inner voice to shut up. Axton opened up the door and gave Maya a playful wink and a cold shoulder to Krieg as the two passed. In several moments, Gaige was up at Krieg's side and pulling him to the couch to talk. However, before either of the pair could say a word, Maya broke the tone of the room with several words.

"Today has been a nightmare…" she said before walking up to drop onto a couch cushion with an exhausted thud. "This guy over here may be a killing machine, but I swear; he's like a kid!" Maya continued, gaining everyone's attention. "Yeah! I had to lead him around and let him kill stuff the entire time, and he almost got us killed for it!" she fumed.

"Uh… What?" Axton asked, confused.

"We ran into Hammerlock while he was looking into Varkids more and he asked us to kill some for him… So I sit back and watch while he goes around killing them all… It got bored and took a nap… Only to wake up to him carrying me into the abandoned farm house while Vermiverous is spitting shit at us!" Maya shouted. To say she was livid would be an understatement.

"Siren, please calm down/ You both survived it, correct?/ Challenge completed." Zero replied in a calm voice. Maya's only response was a glare at him before closing her eyes and turning away in aggravation. Zero projected a question mark and turned to the others before shrugging his shoulders and stepping away from the frustrated siren, going to sit cross-legged against a wall with the hilt of his blade in his lap. He then remained motionless in his current position; further confusing the rest of the group. Axton just continued looking at Maya with confusion plastered on his face for several more moments before his expression hardened and he looked over to Krieg with a grimace of anger.

"What the hell were you doing?! You could have gotten her killed, you oaf! What's the point of having a team if we can't function like one?!" Axton fumed, pointing to Krieg in a manner that would have gotten his finger bitten off if he tried it with a regular bandit.

"Axton! Go easy on him! He's even less sane than Sal, over there!" Gaige shouted, protecting the large, bloodthirsty monster of a man.

This even surprised Maya out of her comatose like fit of annoyance. She looked away from the wall and towards the anarchist with confusion. Gaige was now standing between Axton and Krieg, pointing up at the commando in a way that even intimidated Krieg.

"He was just doing his job! He was even going out of his way to protect Maya! He could have just left her there and let her respawn! But no; he's a good person; well sorta… But still; he saved her and even killed a Raid Boss practically single-handedly! You wouldn't be so angry with him right now if you weren't still trying to get into Maya's pants!" Gaige shouted, poking Axton in the chest, pushing him back and holding her other hand on her hip. Axton had a strong blush on his face and was looking down at the enraged Mechromancer in confusion mixed with surprise and shock, and he wasn't the only one. Everyone, including Tina and Krieg, was staring at Gaige, unsure as to how to react to her verbal assault of their appointed leader and usual tactician. After several more moments of Gaige looking up at the man that she'd forced up against a wall in fear, she grunted in anger and stormed out of the workshop, hitting the door control as she passed and closing the door behind her.

**End Chapter 3: Blood Boil.**

Okay, guys, so this was a short chapter… I'm currently debating over changing the progression of this story from a Maya X. Krieg story to a Gaige X. Krieg story. For anyone that wants to cast their vote, I'm setting up a poll on my homepage for you guys to vote on.


	4. Transfusion

Thank you, everyone! I'm so happy that you all love my story so much! I've read all your reviews and checked all the votes on the poll and I'm happy to announce that my story will be progressing as it's been. With some slight and interesting modifications. Enjoy chapter 4, everyone! This one's special! And sorry for my writing of Maya, I'm not entirely used to her character yet. I think I'm getting better though.

**Chapter 4: Transfusion**

As Gaige made her way through the Tundra Express, her mind was racing with confused thoughts and feelings. _Why did I flip out like that?_ She thought, remembering her words to Axton. She walked over to the fast travel station and warped back to Sanctuary. She needed insight so she decided to look for Maya or Angel; someone that could help her out.

First, she stopped by the small hide-away that Angel was known to hide out in for peace and quiet. Gaige knew this because it's where Zero usually goes to get away from the others to meditate when he gets tired of Salvador firing bullets at him while he practices on rooftops and when they rescued Angel, Zero was the first one to greet her in a nonthreatening manner, so she began to prefer his company for some strange reason.

**Flashback: Nine weeks ago.**

"You track her down yet?" Mordecai asked, scratching the plume of scaled skin on Bloodwing Jr.'s neck.

"No, you belligerent alcoholic, I have not." Tannis replied in an aggravated voice as she scanned the Echo Network.

"Tannis, there's no reason for names. Just please keep looking. We need Angel if we're ever going to track down all the other Vaults." Lilith said in a calm voice as she stepped up to Tannis at her terminal.

"Very well, but for now, you all need to leave me to my work. I require privacy. Unless you all enjoy the mixed odor of Blood and Bile, I suggest you take your leave." Tannis said in agreement before looking to the others in the room with a look of mild annoyance and discomfort before a trickle of blood dripped from her nose and she made a slight lurch with her neck, signaling that she was growing queasy by all the attention on her and all of the people in her lab. Shared grimaces could be seen all around as Maya, Lilith, Brick, Mordecai, and Axton all got the hint and filed out of the room, leaving Tannis to her work. However, unbeknownst to them, Zero had been perched up in a corner of the room by only his feet sticking him to the walls where they met to make the corner of the room. He sat in the shadows, watching Tannis as she worked diligently. She worked for hours and Zero watched for just as long. "Eureka! I have found it!" Tannis shouted with glee as she found some code that seemed out of place. Zero leaned in closer and stared towards the screen, doing his best to understand the complicated symbols and signs as they scrolled up the screen. Tannis then raced across the room excitedly as she typed vigorously into her Echo Console. A large digistruct device sprung from the machine and powered on. Seeing this, Zero dropped from the corner silently and walked up to stand beside Tannis, taking caution as to not surprise her as he did not wish to wash vomit and blood off of his suit again that afternoon. She glanced over at him and under usual circumstances, would have been shocked to the point of popping a blood vessel and starting to swing a rather large microscope at him repeatedly. This was, however, a different situation and she was far too excited already to panic at his sudden presence. She simply nodded and stepped past him and turned on the beginning protocols for the device to prepare for an immediate digistruct.

"Now behold my genius, Assassin!" Tannis said in a rather pompous attitude as the digistruct device began materializing what looked to be a person. Zero stared intently with a question mark projecting from his faceplate. Within moments, it took the form of Angel and she dropped to the floor, shivering incessantly as she began to go into shock due to being resurrected after sitting in the Echo Net for so long. Zero walked over to her and picked her up. He then carried her over and placed her on Tannis' empty desk and pulled up a chair to sit next to her. "What are you doing, you murderous block head!?" Tannis fumed, looking to Zero in angered surprise.

"Overseeing her recovery. She may now become very ill." Zero replied.

"Your ability to arrange words into a 17 syllable order is maddening enough, assassin, at least grant me the ability to sit comfortably in my own lab!" Tannis replied, tapping her foot as she loomed over him. Zero nodded, getting up and going to stand on the opposite side of the desk. In several moments, Angel's shivering subsided and her eyes opened, looking right into Zero's faceplate. She stared at him for several moments before leaping up from the table into a tight hug with him as she began to cry.

"I'm so happy you all finally found me!" she shouted as tears of joy rolled down her face.

At first, Zero was surprised by her actions and projected an exclamation point, but before long, he shut off the sign of alarm and responded to her embrace, wrapping his arms around her upper and lower back lightly while he patted her shoulder awkwardly. Despite his apparent insecurity about the emotional gesture, Angel snuggled into his hug and continued crying happily.

**End Flashback. Present time; with Gaige.**

Gaige opened the door to the small hideaway to see Angel sitting in the far corner, asleep with a book in her hand. Slightly disappointed, Gaige closed the door and stepped away and going back to the center of town. She sat down on the side of the Crimson Raider's Resistance Fist at the center of town. _I really need someone to talk to… I need some sort of guidance to deal with all of these emotions…_ She thought as she sat, looking to the ground. _Wait! Emotions! That's it! I'll ask Lilith! She's got more mood swings than Mordy when he's arguing with Moxxi!_ Gaige thought, looking hopefully toward the HQ. She then hopped up onto her feet and walked with a spring in her step towards the building and walked up the stairs. Once up into the Raider HQ upper strategy center, she looked around and didn't find Lilith anywhere. _Well Crap. What am I gon-_

"Hey, Slab!" Brick's familiar voice echoed through the Mechromancer's mind. Gaige whipped around to look to the heavy man as he stood up from his daily workout routine. When her eyes met with the gargantuan man that she practically saw as a mentor in the art of destruction being as normal as can be, she started feeling happiness ooze out of her heart like a faucet of relief and immediately ran forward to hug the retired Vault Hunter around the hips.

"I need help!" she whimpered, trying to gain some sort of composure as she pulled away from him and looked up at him.

Brick was surprised by the advance of the usually so peppy, stable girl that he just patted her head and looked down at her before pulling her away so he could speak and look into her eyes. "What'cha need, little Slab?" he asked in a strangely soft tone that was uncharacteristic of his large stature and aggressive nature. He then led her to the tattered couch in the HQ, pushing a very hung-over Mordecai onto the far arm with a careless jerk before picking Gaige up and dropping her kindly onto the torn cushion and plopping down next to her.

"I- I don't know… I just… I've been feeling lonely." Gaige replied, looking away from him and towards the arm of the couch.

"Ah… Homesick, eh?" Brick asked with a mild chuckle.

"Uh… Yeah…" Gaige replied with a mild blush and a smile while she looked back.

"Well don't worry about that. Life here may not be stable, but it's homey." Brick spoke again.

"Easy for you to say. You've been here a lot longer than I have. And you weren't forced away from your family." Gaige said in a more solemn tone.

"Alright…" he sighed, "…I don't really have much of a family left to go back to, little Slab. I came here to look for my sister; I've been here for six years and still haven't found her. Not only that, but the rest of my family is tough as nails." Brick then chuckled to himself before continuing. "I remember my last Christmas with my family… When I woke up, we ate breakfast. I still remember the gritty taste of the sandpaper we had that morning. And that night, for dinner, I had a heaping bowl of bullets and a gun for desert… Yeah, I spent that night nursing a gun wound… But it was a good day." Brick finished, reminiscing in the past. He then cleared his expression before smiling softly and adding one last detail. "That was the Christmas that I got my first dog."

Gaige didn't know how to react to that so she just continued to look at him while he spoke.

"Listen little Slab, life will never be easy for you, but it'll never be overwhelming if you take a break every once in a while. Why do you think I work out so much?"

"Uh… Because you like to be strong when you punch things?" Gaige asked feebly.

Brick released a hearty laugh before replying. "You got me there, Slab, but not entirely. I do it so much to clear my head. Most of the time, just fighting things is enough to keep me in shape. I need to tune out all the bickering between Mordy here, and Lil." Brick then roughly nudged Mordecai before looking back to the distraught Mechromancer.

Gaige smiled softly up to the hulking man before speaking. "I'll try that sometime. But right now I need something else… I… Uh… I think I-

-Don't say it, little Slab, I already know what you're trying to say. You've got a mother to help you out with that sort of thing. Or at least Moxxi, she should suffice." Brick cut in.

"What? NO! I was going to say that I think I… like someone." Gaige mumbled, blushing a very vibrant shade of red as she finished her sentence.

"Like someone, eh? I wonder who that could be…" Brick replied slightly sarcastically.

"Sh-shut up!" Gaige shouted at him, a rosy blush appearing on her face.

"Hmm… Let me guess… Commando?" Brick fired back, a large, knowing smile appearing on his face. Gaige's only response was a dumbfounded expression and an even deeper blush while she went slack-jawed.

_Oh, god, he's even smarter than I thought! What do I do?! What do I say!? _Gaige thought, panicking in her own mind. She soon shook herself out of her daze and looked back to Brick with an embarrassed smile. "I… I guess you're smarter than you look, Big Guy…" Brick released a soft chuckle before leaning back in his seat.

"I knew you liked him since day one. I caught glimpses of you looking at him when you thought no one was paying attention. I've even smelt motor oil on his jacket a few times. Does he know why that happens, little Slab?"

"N-no… He always assumes that it's his shoulder mounted camera leaking or something…" Gaige responded with a slightly smug smile, her blush still in full swing. Brick laughed again.

"Well, Slab, I'd say that you should tell him soon. I mean, Zero's ahead of you in the game!" he said with a chuckle in his voice.

"I'll try…"

"No, Slab; you go and you do it! I ain't gonna deal with you having no confidence in yourself!" Brick boomed, standing up and picking Gaige up by the shoulders and walking her over to the balcony before dropping her onto the street below and shouting; "Now make me proud, Slab! Failure is not an option!"

Gaige hit the ground softly due to the low gravity of Pandora and looked back up to Brick with confusion on her face before she realized what he'd told her to do. Her blush intensified and she turned away from the building and began approaching her house in Sanctuary to try to make herself look nice for later in the day when she'd tell Axton the truth about her feelings for him.

**Back at Tina's Place. With Maya.**

_Damn. I've never seen someone let Axton have it like that before… He didn't even have a word to reply with… Gaige sure knows how to swing for the fences. _Maya thought, looking from her book to a still confused Axton as he sat quietly in the far corner of the room, thinking about what had just happened. _I wonder if she could teach me to do that…_ Maya continued thinking before Krieg's inner voice interjected. (You know I can hear you, right? Comes with being a disconnected mind; once I establish a connection with a siren, I can hear their thoughts like you can mine apparently…) meanwhile, across the room, Krieg shouted loudly before smashing his head against a wall.

"Your sounds with the mind walker are not painful enough! Die!" he then slammed into the wall, producing a sickening crackle as the bones in his nose broke, but his health regeneration from Maya being close repaired the damage. Krieg then immediately looked back to Maya and trudged over to her, grumbling in aggravation.

"What? It's not my fault that you enjoy getting hurt. You're the only one that finds my Health buff a hindrance." Maya teased. (Yeah, tease him, see how well that turns out, Siren.) Maya then thought back to the intrusive voice. _Hey, it's the only thing that works. And get out of my head! Bother your landlord over there!_ (Ha! Good one. But I think I'm comfortable here, at least while he's not fighting something, that is.) the inner voice said sarcastically.

"The little man has fallen silent in my meat folds and the sound of my own bicycle can be skewered!" Krieg shouted, almost instantly losing all his anger towards Maya and picking her up into a hug.

"Uh, thanks, Big Guy. P-put me down now." Maya replied to his hug, smiling awkwardly before he flipped her up onto his shoulder. "Oh, no. Not aga- Ah!" she spoke up, getting cut off by him taking off full sprint towards the exit of the cave.

"Don't let him off his leash, Babe!" Axton shouted across the widening distance as Maya was carried off.

(You gonna take that from some divorced ex-soldier that was just reamed out by an 18 year old?) Krieg's inner voice echoed into both of their minds at the same time. Maya grunted in frustration and Krieg roared in annoyance. The two whipped around and both swung for the commando simultaneously. Maya Phaselocked him while Krieg threw an axe at him. The explosion roared and boomed through the enclosed room, causing Tina to wake from her nap and look to a very disheveled Axton as he dropped to the ground, covered in soot like a cartoon that was just handed a bomb as it exploded in his hands. His eyes went crossed and he lifted a finger and spoke.

"I'd like my warm milk before bed, Mommy…" He then crumpled over himself and said. "I just gonna go lie down…" He then closed his eyes and began snoring loudly, before snorting and sucking his thumb, holding his combat rifle like a teddy bear and smiling as he dreamt like a child. Tina and Sal looked to one another before bursting into loud fits of laughter, rolling on their backs and kicking like they were both children. Zero just projected a smiley face and returned his attention to the floor as he continued his meditation.

Maya and Krieg were at the door when they noticed the commotion that their team attack had caused. (Oh, shit! You beat him Loony Tunes!) Krieg's inner voice commented to the both of them as the door opened and they stepped through. Krieg then hit the control and released Maya onto the ground just gently enough for her to land on her feet. Just at that moment, Krieg's inner voice punctured the silence and began laughing in a slightly maniacal laugh that almost sounded as scary as Krieg's real laugh while he's rendering a bandit to paste with his exploding axes. Krieg just sighed and sat down, waiting for his inner voice to stop as he finally started realizing that he was able to just ignore it sometimes.

Maya looked on with a raised eyebrow at the tired and slightly calmer exterior of Krieg as he sat down against one of the deactivated bombs next to the door to Tina's Place. She decided that if she was going to be hanging around with a psychopath, he might as well be in a predictably good mood as opposed as becoming moody and run a chance of attacking her or their allies.

"Hey." Maya spoke up, kicking at his boot lightly to get his attention. "Stop moping around, Big Guy, we got things to do." She then kicked his boot again, actually calling him to look at her. Krieg grumbled in a defeated tone before slowly lifting to his feet. _Yo! Disembodied Voice Guy! Why is he so down all of a sudden?_ Maya thought as she looked up into Krieg's slightly softened eye. (I'm not sure… Maybe you should try talking to him. He might be easier to talk to now that he's in this kind of a mood.) the voice replied in her mind. Maya then internally sighed as she prepared for their future conversation. _Alright. I'll see what I can do. No promises though._ "So… Uh… You feelin' alright?" Maya asked awkwardly, looking to the side as she struggled to find the words.

(Come on, Big Guy. She's reaching here, give her something!) Krieg's inner voice spoke into his mind with conniving intent. Krieg grumbled again as he began thinking.

"The sounds of my inner parliament render me pained in a way that I cannot salt." Krieg spoke slowly as his arms lingered at his side, his axe being low enough to the ground that the blade touched the dirt.

Maya was startled by how clearly she understood him at that moment. She could not, for the life of her, figure out if she was getting better at understanding his irregular speech patterns or if he was actually speaking with articulate words as opposed to his usual insane drabbles. She soon shook off the confusion and replied to his words.

"Do… Do you know why?" she asked, looking into his eye.

(She's doing her best, give her a little more.) the inner voice added.

"The silence is louder than the screams of my pavement!" Krieg shouted, suddenly losing his calm nature and gripping his head with both hands. Maya was surprised at this display of change and took a small step back.

(Hey, he needs help, don't walk away from him. At least not right now, alright?) The inner voice cut in as Maya began to take another step, reaching for her sidearm. She blinked at the words and sighed, leaving her hands at her sides.

"Alright, let's try something different then. You in there, Big Guy?" Maya asked as she lifted her arms into a defensive boxing position. Curiously, Krieg removed him hands and looked at Maya with confused eyes. She then threw her weight into a punch to his jugular that caused him to drop out of sheer surprise. "Glad to have your attention! We're going to do a little sparring." Maya said in a commanding voice as she leaned down to look into Krieg's confused eye while she reached down and gripped his armored hand and lifted him back to his feet. (Uh… Hey, Maya… You sure that's a good idea?) The Voice chirped in, confused and a little worried. _Shh! Go into his mind and help him out. I'm going to get our good old psycho back into working order._ Maya thought back to the voice. "And this is hand to hand only. No weapons, Big Guy." Maya spoke up, readying her defensive stance. Behind Krieg's mask, he smiled the grin that a wolf smiles before a challenger. He then lifted his arms and got into a defensive stance as well, lowering himself and spreading his legs for better balance and stability.

**Meanwhile, Inside Tina's Place.**

A strong flash of light and energy erupted and called everyone's attention to the center of the cave. Everyone except Axton, that is. The others all looked to the epicenter of the shockwave and saw Lilith standing with a slightly groggy Angel beside her.

Lilith took a step towards everyone before she pointed with her thumb behind her to the closed door with a curious look in her eyes. "Uh, hey, you guys know that Maya and the psycho are fighting outside, right?" she said. Everyone aside from Angel perked up at her words; once again, all aside from a very unconscious Axton as he drooled onto the cave floor. Zero was the first to appropriately react. He immediately flashed an exclamation point and shot up out of his meditation before sprinting for the door, sward in hand. "Wait! Zero, they're not really fighting! They're sparring." Lilith called to the rushing assassin. He slowed down to stand at the door control before turning to her with a question mark shining brightly from his helm. "Yeah, I don't know what's going on, but Angel and I got a glimpse of it before we decided to teleport here. Something told me not to disturb them." Lilith added, shifting on her hip. At that exact moment, Axton came out of his stupor and caught a rather great glimpse of Lilith's ass.

"Hello! That's something I don't mind waking up to!" he commented rather loudly, catching her attention. Lilith grunted in mild annoyance and took a step forward, immediately phasewalking right in front of him and using the force to push him up into a seated position. She then kicked him in the sternum to end her walk and instantly knocked him out again. Immediately following the devastating hit, Axton's eyes crossed and his head rolled around on his shoulders as he mumbled quietly "Pretty birdies." And he then slid down against the wall that he was forced against and into a fetal position.

** Back outside, With Maya and Krieg.**

Maya threw punch after punch into the massive musculature of the psycho, but Krieg didn't falter a single step. He received every hit that she launched, not even reacting. His block had eased to allow her access to his neck and chin, but even these areas were too dulled from self-mutilation and fighting for her to do any more than negligible damage to him. (Come on, Siren, start putting something interesting into these punches or he's just going to ignore you.) The Voice commented. Maya released an aggravated grunt and tightened her jaw with a snarl. Her tattoos flared with light and her left hand became surrounded with an energy the likes of which she'd never experienced before. She charged an uppercut and crouched slightly to intensify the blow; standing up with her extension to throw her whole weight into it. A black, blue and purple trail of energy followed her fist as it flew almost in slow motion into Krieg's jaw. As it connected, a small eruption of energy crackled like the cracking of a whip, causing her squinting eyes to close completely, blocking out the aftermath of the blow. She then heard the heavy thud that was only characteristic to a human body slamming against the ground in the reduced gravity native to Pandora. Maya eased her clenched eyes open to see Krieg staring up at her with surprise in his eye; but that wasn't all that was there. There was something else there too that she couldn't quite place; was it… intrigue? She was so puzzled by this sudden development, that she didn't notice him lifting to his feet. She did, however, notice his eye now showing the familiar fire that he showed when fighting a strong opponent that could kill him at any moment; that familiar way that he carried himself that only he did when staring down the barrel of a loaded sniper rifle like on the day he met Zero. That familiar saunter in his step that made Salvador and Brick almost fall in love him when they both saw him stare down an Ultimate Badass Loader with all six arm cannons charged and just twirl his Buzz Axe as though it was commonplace. That familiar hidden smile that he'd smile to every opponent that he'd face as his axe tore through their flesh or metal or stone or crystal with ease and that very same smile that he'd only show to a worthy opponent. He was only inches away from her when Maya realized that he was staring her down like a predator to its prey, like a hungry skag to a bone, like a Vault Hunter to a treasure trove of weapons. She felt a cold tingle down her spine as she caught a very slight glimpse of his hand cock back for a single blow to her gut and another surge of strange feelings as she was lifted off her feet by the force and the lack of pain as every cubic inch of air was forced out of her and her world turned black and red momentarily as she free-fell to the earth below her and produced the very same satisfying thud that Krieg had made mere moments before.

Everything in her world came tumbling back with the soft whispering of her designation by the disembodied voice that had taken refuge within the far reaches of her mind. The red and black dimming of everything in her surroundings aside from the very center of her vision faded, yielding to the true colors of the world and the haze of the sudden adrenaline rush that had pumped through her body at the moment of the impact of Krieg's fist had cleared away. She could now weekly stare up into Krieg's eye as he still looked down on her like she were his prey; just waiting for him to pounce and tear her limb from limb at the demand of his animalistic instincts. She shivered once again as she saw his body move and her eyes closed tight as she prepared for another deafening and practically crippling blow from the titan of a man; but none came. Instead, she felt his hand snake its fingers around her wrist and pull her up to her feet and then the other joining it on the other wrist before they both were brought to shift to her shoulders to support her as she stood. Her eyes struggled open as the fear plagued her muscles, but her curiosity won in the end, forcing her eyes open to stare on in amazement at the monster of a man as he held her gingerly and used his feet to shift hers to support her own weight. Her eyes now looked to his only visible one and she came to see an innocent playfulness in it as opposed to the burning, challenged joy from less than a second ago. She felt something strange at that moment in her chest and in her cheeks as she continued to stare at his ever changing eye; emotions plaguing his every feature and crevice in his mind as he felt her eyes on him. He felt uneasy at the feeling of having her looking on at him like he'd just given her the keys to his meat bicycle and asked her to ride it around Sanctuary several times. An unfamiliar burning ignited in his chest and his eyes widened in surprise at the sudden, unwarranted sensation.

(Those idiots have no idea what they've just started, do they?) A familiar disembodied voice surmised from the farthest reaches of both of their minds in a quiet, secluded, and sarcastically solemn address to itself.

**Chapter 4: Transfusion. End.**

So how was that, everyone? A little independent character development to get your chains rattling? I'd love feedback on this chapter to know well I did on the Gaige and Brick parts. And advice will always be accepted when in regards to everyone's favorite blue-haired siren! Thanks for reading! See you all again soon!


	5. Crimson Lights

**Opening Note.**

I've been reading a lot of my reviews and I like that all of you sending your opinions, but I like to make it a practice to send my own reactions to my readers as a way of getting to know them and learning more of their impressions. So as a sort of a mass address, I'd like to say to any of you reviewers of mine that do or do not know: I cannot reply to your reviews unless you take the time to create a profile picture and fill out all of your information before you write your reviews. I really do enjoy getting all of these reactions, but I like to be able to stand up with my own arguments as well. Some of you may know that while I do take constructive criticism well, criticism in general for me is a little harder to take, so I like to reason with my reviewers to at least hear an in-depth review. Now. With that aside; on with the story!

**Chapter 5: Crimson Lights**

Maya and Krieg stood several feet apart, their eyes locked in a silent battle over dominance as their bodies stood rigid in defensive positions. Soon, however, Krieg's patience ran out and he sprinted straight toward Maya with animalistic abandon. In response, her tattoos flared and both her hands ignited with the new form of energy that she'd discovered during their fight. In less than a second, Krieg was right in front of her; his hand wound back and his body several feet in the air due to him jumping in his sprint. His hand moved forward with deadly precision at her forehead, ready to deliver a haymaker strong enough to give Brick a run for his money. Maya had barely enough time to dodge his swing and release one of her own, forcing him back and away from her as opposed to him landing on her due to his speed as he approached.

Krieg stumbled back a foot and smiled wildly beneath his mask again as he began to speak in a low tone that gradually increased into maniacal laughter. "My meat is strong and aged with the flavors of the grey and sorrowful, but the pain in my burger stamps will never compare to anything that can be viewed from My Windowsill! My Love For Pain Will Outlast LIFE!" silently, during his soliloquy's softer part, Krieg equipped his level 30 Fabled Tortious and smacked himself in the face to break it and sprint at Maya with ridiculous speed. This time, instead of jumping in the attack, he forced himself to stop short and stumble into a controlled spin on his heels, effectively backhanding her to the ground with his fist. Maya lifted from the ground weekly and spit up blood after the hit as his fist cut open her lip. She looked up to him and smiled without even the slightest twinge of anger, but instead, an overwhelming sense of determination. Krieg smiled down at her and pulled her up again; such was the norm for the duel as a way of showing their sportsmanship. Following any blow that ended in one of them down on the ground, the other would lift them back to their feet and this would continue until one or both of them could not stand up anymore.

Maya's eyes again met Krieg's one visible one as she stood; she immediately felt something animalistic take over her at that moment and she smiled a thin, wicked grin as she forced some energy into her tattooed leg and kneed him in the stomach, catching him off guard and forcing him to double over and wheeze heavily, dropping to his hands and knees as he regained his breath. Once his breath returned, he looked up to Maya's hand and smiled again beneath his mask, again accepting her hand to get back to his feet. He stood in a haunch as he could feel his strength starting to wane due to the heavy blows from his siren opponent; however, he did not show even the slightest cue of giving in. From where he stood, he could appreciate the strength of Maya's determination and her drive to both give him competition and to aid him in his moment of need. He soon shook all thought from his mind and refocused on his opponent; the one fighter that he'd ever faced that he both appreciated and challenged. He started tensing his muscles, preparing for a strong punch when another deafening blow from Maya again knocked him to the ground.

(Oh, damn. That was a strong one. You sure you can take another one, Big Guy?) His inner voice commented coyly. _You will silence the silence inside!_ He fired back, feeling a small amount of anger grow inside his mind. (What? I was just saying that you're looking a little low… Oh, SHIT! Dude! NO!)

In that moment, Maya lifted Krieg from the ground and stood him up again, helping him back into balance. She looked up at him with a challenging smile as she looked him up and down, seeing all of the bruises and welts that decorated his flesh and muscles. His mask was cracked after her newest punch and blood was now trickling down from his chin. As she held to his chest to steady him, she felt his lungs contract and his voice begin to pick up into a deep, throaty laugh. She looked up to him with confusion as his voice grew louder and he stumbled back from her for about twenty feet.

"I feel the hurt!" He shouted.

_Wait… Oh, no…_ Maya thought, remembering one of his more famous shouts in combat.

"Time for a rampage!" he concluded, looking to his right arm as the muscles began to flex suddenly and strongly. His voice began to deepen and his muscles grew and thickened, increasing the arm's size and bulk. He then turned to his left arm as it shrunk and became smaller and smaller. His chest broadened and his shoulders expanded as his torso grew in size. He then turned to her with the same look of sportsmanship as before and took a step forward towards her, dragging his arm along the ground.

_This is bad… I don't think I can even hurt him now…_ Maya thought as she stared, wide eyed, at Krieg as he slowly stepped closer, challenging her to attack him with his deformed arm. _Well, at least he's not losing his mind… I guess I'll just give it my all in this punch. If he doesn't go down; oh well, I guess._ Maya thought again, her challenging smile returning faintly and her arms and legs all beginning to ignite with energy. She started stepping towards Krieg as he did the same, both picking up speed until both were in a full sprint. Krieg lifted his massive arm behind him, preparing for another backhand with his fist while Maya now copied his previous jump and downward haymaker.

**Meanwhile; Inside Tina's Bunker**

A huge, deafening noise boomed from behind the door, calling everyone's attention and waking Axton from his daze with panicked resolve.

"¿Qué?" Salvador asked in a confused voice as his head shot from the still disheveled Axton and he refocused on the door as it rattled and seized.

"What the hell?" Lilith asked softly, speaking to herself.

Zero remained silent as he looked on and projected a question mark.

"Tina! Open this door!" Lilith shouted, running towards the door, readying her Pestilent Defiler Pistol and flaring her wings as she ran. She then stopped waiting for the door and Phasewalked through it, emerging on the other side. "Oh, shit." She commented to herself as she stared on at the scene outside. In moments, everyone came through the door, aside from Zero who managed to find a small hole above it to climb through and landed right next to Lilith where she came out of her walk.

Their eyes focused of Krieg and Maya both lying on the ground, panting with exhaustion and laughing weakly. A black scorch mark was imprinted on the side of Krieg's mask from Maya's impact and a large welt was outlined in red on the side of Maya's face next to her mark under her eye. Due to their shared attacks, Maya landed on Krieg and was now lying on his chest with her legs spread on his waist and her face flush to his chest. They both were too tired and having too much fun to care about the somewhat suggestive position. Krieg was holding to her lower back to stabilize her and prevent her from rolling off of his chest from fatigue. This moment of lighthearted fun ended abruptly as they both simultaneously lost consciousness and just sat as they were.

None of the onlookers spoke as they stared at what was before them. Lilith and Angel stood, wide eyed at the two sleeping Vault Hunters. Axton dropped to his knees and started sobbing with large, anime style tears. Salvador stood silently until he turned to Axton as he sobbed and started laughing again, soon joined by Tina. Zero once again just stood with a question mark for several moments before allowing the symbol to dissipate and he turned from the scene and began walking towards the fast travel to return to his secluded area to meditate. Angel caught glimpse of him leaving and decided to go with him, leaving the others to do as they will.

**With Zero and Angel**

The two walked in silence to the Fast Travel Station. Strangely enough, it was not an awkward silence but instead, a comfortable silence full of nothing but the footsteps of its participants and the soft crunching of snow. Angel looked to the ground contented as she followed Zero sever feet behind and he walked slowly and scanned their surroundings. They soon reached the fast travel and traveled to Sanctuary. As they stood, Angel stretched slowly.

"After a day like today, I could use a quiet afternoon." Angel said in a calm voice. Zero remained silent and simply nodded before leading her to their quiet hideaway. He opened the door and slinked in and waited patiently while she followed. He then closed the door and walked over to his corner and sat down into a cross legged position like he usually did and just sat in silence while Angel picked up a book and sat down next to him.

After several minutes, Angel began humming softly to herself, calling Zero out of his concentration. He turned to her and projected a question mark, looking at her features as the red of his projection lightened the entire inside of the hideaway.

"Sorry." Angel replied nervously, lifting her shoulders in an attempt at hiding as she slinked down behind her book.

Zero then released an audible sigh and started to speak. "Angel, please tell me/ Why do you always come here?/ What is the reason?" he asked in a soft tone, shutting off the question mark but continuing to face her.

"I… I like how… Quiet it is here…" she said, covering her cheeks with her book.

(Now, now, don't lie to Stretch, here.) a voice echoed in Angel's mind, surprising her to the point of dropping her book and drawing Zero's attention. _What the hell was that?!_ Angel thought in confusion, panicking slightly. (Relax, Siren, I won't bite.) The voice commented again in a gentle tone. _Wh-who are you?_ She thought back. (I'm the reason why Krieg isn't killing babies and eating them. I'm the voice in his head that keeps him in line.) _If… If you're so important, why aren't you still in his head?_ (Simple. He is unconscious. So's Maya. After their little duel, I was left with nothing to do, so I thought I'd do a little exploring.) _How?_ (While Maya and the Big Guy were on their mission, Krieg made an outburst that showed Maya that there were two minds in one person, so she entered our head and started talking to me. However, after punching a whole, she left one, so now I can enter her mind and speak with her freely. Then, after some thought, I figured out that from her mind, I could transmit to yourself and Lilith if I ever needed to. After all, sirens are connected.) _Then why me?_ (You're the gentlest, most good-natured siren I've ever seen, so I figured you'd receive me the best, as well as be the best at explaining it to the others once I figure out how to use all three of you sirens to project into the others' minds to speak with them as well.) _That seems alright, I guess…_ Angel thought hesitantly.

"You alright, Angel?/ You're unusually quiet/ Much more than normal." Zero said in a slightly worried tone, projecting a question mark.

Angel was then forced from her thoughts and stared into his visor. "Oh! Yeah! Sorry, just a little conflicted is all! Nothing to worry about!" She replied nervously, waving her hands in embarrassment. Zero just continued looking at her before shutting off the question mark and returning to his meditation.

(You really do like the tall, dark and mysterious types, don't you?) the voice said in a teasing tone. _Sh-shut up! _(Oh, relax, I'm only stopping by for a little time wasting. I'll be out of your hair in a couple minutes.) _Leave now! Go back to the hair you belong in!_ (Awe, come on. Help a disembodied voice out. It's not like I've got anything else to do while the Big Guy sleeps off his fight.) _No! Damnit! I…_ She then sighed internally. _Fine, just keep quiet and don't start telling Krieg or Maya what you've been doing._ (Wasn't planning on it.)

With that, the voice fell silent and Angel cautiously returned to her book, nervously looking in Zero's direction every so often. However, Zero's was fully aware of her stray glances and sighed audibly.

"No more games, Angel/ Please tell me what's going on/ I'm quite curious." Zero spoke up in a serious voice, tilting his helm to face her.

"Oh… I… Uh…" Angel stuttered, her cheeks starting to turn a soft pink. Seeing this, Zero crossed his arms and projected a question mark. "I-I p-pref-fer y-your company…" Angel said, now in a cherry red and holding her book over her burning cheeks while her eyes looked to the far corner of the room.

"Why is that?" he asked, his question mark remaining.

"Y-you're quiet… And-d c-calm… A-and… I f-feel like I c-can relax…" she stuttered.

Zero then raised a hand, nodding slowly in response, moving one of his hands to her shoulder to offer her some form of comfort. Angel's cheeks reddened violently and she felt her heart skip a beat in her chest as her thought raced in her head. She then steadied herself and lowered her book, smiling warmly to him as he projected a smiley face emoticon.

(Awe, isn't that sweet? I'll let them alone for a while…) The voice said too quiet for Angel to comprehend and left her mind, returning to Krieg's and Maya's just as they were starting to stir from their exhaustion.

"Ugh… I feel like I just punched a freight train while it hit me…" Maya said groggily as she sat up.

(Happens to the best of us, Siren.) The voice said into her mind. Maya then rubbed her eyes to find that she was now sitting on her cot in Sanctuary.

"Ho-How?" she asked aloud, looking around the room confused.

(We brought you here. This big lummox isn't easily kept down, so he did come-to about ten minutes ago and carried you here.)

"Wow… Krieg; thanks." Maya replied, looking into his one visible eye.

"Now arise from your spleen rests…" Krieg spoke up in a low, gravelly tone as he squinted impatiently and stood up. He then walked out of the room to look for something either to eat or kill and eat.

With that, Maya shuffled to the edge of the bed and rubbed her face, still feeling a little sore despite being healed by some insta-healths. "Wow… He and I really went at each other… I'm surprised that he went down though…" she said in a soft, husky voice. She then slowly got to her feet and grabbed her pack and headed out, closing the door behind her. She looked around, but Krieg was nowhere to be seen, smelt or heard, so with little regret, she headed to Zed's clinic for some more insta-healths to cure the dull throbbing in her head and face. Within moments, she'd entered the door and found Zed standing next to his operating table, thinking to himself. As she shut the door, his attention was pulled from his thoughts and to the source of the disturbance.

"Well, if it ain't a Vault Hunter. What can I do for you?" he asked in his familiar southern drawl and slightly warm tone.

"I just got out of a fight and could use some extra insta-healths." Maya replied, pointing to the vender just feet from the door.

"After the fight you went through with that psycho feller, I ain't surprised! I am surprised you brought 'em down though! Good on'ya, little lady!"

"Yeah. Thanks, Zed. See you around." Maya replied slightly uneasily. _How did news spread so fast about that? Did Axton open his fat mouth again? Because if he did…_ Maya thought, trailing off as she gripped the needle and exited Zed's clinic. The moment she injected the medicine, she immediately almost ran into Krieg's chest. "Whoa! Easy there, Big Guy. I just got all this back in working order, I can't have you messing it up again so soon." Maya said with a laugh as she took a step back.

Krieg's one visible eye released the tension that it had been holding and adopted a look of enjoyment that she'd only seen in a few rare moments while he was killing something mercilessly with his axe. That level of contentedness that he could only experience while his spinning, slicing blade is tearing into something with the level of ferocity that could make a rabid Skag cower with its nonexistent tail between its legs like a puppy that had just made a puddle on the rug. Seeing this, Maya smiled back in a slightly charismatic smile that would have melted the heart and overheated the loins of a lesser or saner man near instantly. However, at that moment, her smile dropped when she felt both his massive hands circle around her waist and then lift her up by just below her ribs and hoisted her up in the carry that he'd used multiple times in the past to silently force his deranged will on her. Unlike usual, she didn't care and strangely, smiled in that way that one smiles when they are comfortable with something and are reminiscing about it silently in their mind, enjoying it in that small level that they could never directly share. With that, Krieg then kicked off into a dead sprint towards Moxxi's Bar and was there in a matter of moments. When they entered, they were greeted by the confused gazes of all the people of Sanctuary.

"Uh, hi, everyone…" Maya spoke up in a slightly embarrassed tone as she realized why they were staring so intently. She was currently resting on Krieg's shoulder without even a fuss, even enjoying it as opposed to her usual protest; the usually so self-dependent and controlling Maya was allowing someone else to have the power for once, and Krieg of all people. The enjoyment in Krieg's eyes waned to that of only indifference as he carried the blushing woman on his shoulder to the booth next to that of the others. He then, in a rare moment of thinking about the feelings of others, got down on one knee and allowed her to get off on her own before sliding into the booth before she did. She soon followed and joined him on the outside of the bench. This again, was a strange event as she usually would have sat on the opposite side of the table instead of next to him. She never sat in the same side as anyone unless it was necessary; to Axton's dismay. The curious nature of these last couple events was so great that in less than a minute after the two of them sat down, Moxxi was at their table, taking their orders.

"What can I get you, Sugar?" Moxxi asked in her familiar sultry voice, leaning over the table slightly. Krieg's one visible eye rolled to stare at her as his mask and head remained perfectly still. His eye remained locked on hers, sending slightly unwelcome shivers down her spine before Maya began speaking.

"We'll keep it simple so that this big lummox doesn't get a headache. We'll take two large pies; one with every kind of meat you can fit on it and one with four cheese and blade flower seeds." Maya said with a soft smile to counter the off-putting gaze of her insane companion.

"Coming right up, Sweetie." Moxxi replied before sauntering off with her familiar strut and going out to the back.

"So… Why did you bring me here, Big Guy?" Maya asked slightly confused. "Done killing for today?" she continued, teasing him mildly.

"The painful putrefaction of all the pitiful puppies and powerless profits will never subside!" he replied, slamming his fist down onto the table, causing it to release the sound of wood splintering.

"Hey! Keep that masked monster on his leash! I don't want anything broken or I'll have you pay for it!" Moxxi shouted from the back room.

Maya made a soft chuckle in her reply. "Okay, Moxxi, I'll try." At this, Krieg grumbled and lowered his face closer to the table. This made Maya giggle a little more and look around to see the rest of the group glancing over to them every so often. "Uh… Hi?" Maya said in a confused voice, waving to the others as they kept glancing over. Krieg noticed this and sighed again, now fully leaning his head down onto the table, looking slowly around in every which way with his one visible eye. The wandering eyes of the others caught his and immediately turned away, ignoring the insane man and his acquaintance. The pair were ignored if not out of fear of the monster of a man then out of respect for the siren sitting with him; after all, aggravating either of them would likely end in a quick and very painful death. The good news, to the relief of everyone in the bar, Moxxi showed up with the pizzas. She placed them on the table and opened the boxes, revealing the pies to the two of them. Krieg straightened up and stared down at the pizza slightly confused and very annoyed. (Uh oh, Siren… He's thinking again…) his inner voice snickered. (But in all seriousness, get everyone else out of here. Fast. He's going to eat that pizza and then kill everyone that sees his face.) "All but the pretty lady! Sitting next to me!" Krieg said just loud enough for only Maya to hear. Maya smiled slightly before her eyes widened at the realization of what she'd heard. She then shot up out of her seat with fear in her eyes before she shouted. "Everybody out! He'll kill all of you if you see his face! OUT NOW!" With that, everyone scrambled out of the bar.

"Hey! Those were my customers!" Moxxi shouted angrily from the bar.

"Sorry, Moxxi, but it was either this or you never getting another customer again because he killed them all." Maya said, sitting back down with a heavy sigh.

"Fine, but I expect you to pay for a LOT more pizzas, Sugar."

"I guess I could do that. How much do you want?" Maya replied.

"Enough for fifty pizzas." Moxxi replied with a smile, leaning over the bar and winking at Maya.

"Alright, I'll pay it on the way out; but for now, can we just eat our pizzas before Krieg here bursts a blood vessel?" Maya asked with a small smile.

"Of course, Sweetie, just don't forget, or I'll have to hunt you down and take the money off your corpse!" Moxxi replied, walking off into the back room.

"My taste receptacles will slaughter all that opposes my capricious revolution!" Krieg shouted, hurling his Buzz Axe into the ceiling and gripping his mask before turning to Maya and sliding it off to show Maya a very sadistic smile filled with practically reflective white teeth that would make a hyena hide in fear. (Yeah, he cleans his teeth with Skag scales and Rakk bones. So while you won't want to smell his breath, his teeth are nice and sparkly clean… It's confusing really.) The disembodied voice commented. Krieg then dipped his face into his pizza box with abandon, causing what could be described as an explosion of cheese, meats, and sauce that would have intimidated many, if not all, types of bandits with its ferocity. Instinctively, Maya grimaced before smiling softly. A rather large piece of Skag meat flew towards her and she ducked, her smile widening very slightly as she did so.

"Huh, you really were hungry…" she commented, picking up a slice of her own and taking a small bite as she enjoyed the display.

**End Chapter 5: Crimson Lights**

Sorry if this chapter was short, my friends, but I figured it was a good place to stop. I'll do my best to update more often, but these last few weeks have been very busy.


	6. Green Means Go, Red Means Go Faster

**Opening Author's Note**

I think at this point in time, a long opening note is unnecessary, so on with the show!

**Chapter 6: Green means go; Red means go faster.**

It had been about fifteen minutes since everyone had left Moxxi's bar and the citizens of Sanctuary were growing both restless and nervous as thoughts of why the pair of Vault Hunters were still inside. Some believed that perhaps Krieg had finally lost what little semblance of restraint that he had and turned on the beautiful siren while she was eating and unprepared, others believed that Krieg had finally pissed off Moxxi to the point that she snapped at him and the two started fighting. Many thoughts plagued those that stood at the doors of Moxxi's bar as they waited for some sort of bad news to be passed on through the form of some sort of scream or blood curdling war cry; but none came. Almost twenty minutes had now passed and nothing had changed. After such a lull in the chaos that was the wake of the Vault Hunters, the citizens began to disperse slowly until only the few already inebriated people that hung out in the passages to the back entrance to Moxxi's Bar remained. However, at that single, unassuming moment, a loud explosion and a strangely pitched feminine shout caught the attention of everyone within ear shot, making them jump and scramble either toward their residences or towards the bar from which it originated. All those that ran to the bar in curiosity were astounded by the very next sound that their ears were greeted by. It wasn't the sounds of pleas for life or the sounds of an axe slicing into something or the sound of a gun being fired; no, instead the returning crowd was subjected to the delicate sounds of silence following the strange noises mere moments before. No one stirred as they waited and listened for some sort of clue as to what was going on, focusing on only what their ears could scan for. Again, in mere moments of one another, another heart-stopping, fear inducing sound shocked all those that were nearby. The closest citizen jumped back as the large door was forced forward with practically enough force to knock someone out, producing a loud thud that startled everyone that was curious or foolhardy enough to be interested. In the doorway stood a figure that cast a shadow over a smaller frame; both covered in some sort of slop that was unrecognizable to most anyone in the audience within range of sight. A heavy thud marked the beginning of the motions that the shaded figures would take as they slowly moved out of the guise of darkness and into the light of the Pandoran evening. The smaller of the two figures passed the threshold of darkness first, revealing itself to be Maya, covered in what appeared to be the remnants of a very meaty and cheesy pizza, the statis of which unknown to any and all of the onlookers. Strangely enough, she didn't look aggravated or disgusted in the slightest, for in truth, she looked rather amused as she flicked her wrist to remove a globule of cheese and looked out to the large and growing conglomeration of people. She smiled in an amused fashion before turning around to look toward the second and considerably larger shadowy figure still standing in the doorway. Obviously masculine in form and large in stature, the second figure was none other than the friendly neighborhood psycho that everyone in Sanctuary with the exception of the Vault Hunters and some of their allies wanted to be rid of. The bestial man stepped out of the shade and looked out at everyone as they stared on at him with mixed feelings of confusion, fear, distrust, and annoyance; however, he glared back at them with emotions of his very own, and not ones that any of them would have expected. His eye showed a contented sort of expression that staggered everyone that could make it out and his body seemed relaxed, as though he was pleasantly exhausted. The both of them looked happily disheveled as they silently made their way through the stunned crowd and towards the Crimson Raider HQ. When the two were out of earshot, everyone then looked back to the open door to see Moxxi. She stood with sheer confusion on her face while she seemingly held herself up with the door frame and stared out at the two leaving Vault Hunters before stepping back into the bar silently and closing the door and retreating into the back room, leaving the bar closed to customers for the rest of that evening.

While this transpired, Maya and Krieg slowly strode into the open door of the Raider HQ, promptly being ignored by Tannis as she continued her work; they made their way up the stairs and into the main room where most, if not all, of the other Vault Hunters spent their days, working on plans as to what course of action they would take to investigate the other vaults. Upon entering the command room, everyone, namely Lilith, Brick, Mordecai and Salvador, turned and raised a collective eyebrow. Salvador opened his mouth, his cigar falling from his mouth and onto the floor, almost igniting the rug next to where it burnt out, the others just staring motionlessly at the two newcomers.

"Uh-huh… Remind me to never go out for dinner with these two…" Mordecai commented, scratching his forehead beneath his bandanna; Brick nodded silently.

"So… uh… You two should go get cleaned up… Like now." Lilith added, her voice rapidly changing from surprise and confusion to a stern tone.

Maya's smiled slightly as she looked at the reactions of the others. "Sorry, guys, Krieg is a messy eater… And a violent one… I had to get everyone else out of the bar while he ate so they didn't get hurt. Damn near broke my jaw with that elbow, by the way…" Maya said, grinning wryly at Krieg as she plucked a piece of Skag meat Pepperoni from her bangs.

Krieg looked to the ground and kicked the dirt like a child while he periodically glanced back up at Maya. Maya smiled at him in a slightly softer way before turning towards the door. She left but stopped at the doorway to wave for Krieg to follow her. He stared at her in both surprise and confusion before sprinting after her, catching up to her by jumping out of the second story window, leaving a trail of cheese and meat in his wake.

"Alright, Big Guy, you go to Hayter's Folly and clean up in the springs while I take a shower." Maya said, pointing towards the teleporter. He just stared at her blankly before his inner voice cut in. (You're going to need to explain that to him, he's never cleaned himself once in his life.)

"Uh… Alright. Just… Um… Wait here, and I'll be back in a few minutes and help you… DON'T follow me!" Maya shouted, walking off to her room to shower and change.

**(Author's Note: This scene isn't going to be the cleanest, so the faint of heart, skip ahead to when this scene ends and you see another Author's Note. That will be your cue to continue reading. For those that want to read this next scene, enjoy.)**

Maya trudged into her room, firmly closing the door and locking it with multiple locks. After all, being one of the most beautiful women on the planet and being as well-known as she was AND a siren made Maya a popular target for peeping toms. However, being a Siren, Maya was well prepared for any and all types of intrusions and harassments and could render some of the more unwise intruders in a coma while their minds tried to unscramble the remnants of their memories of the last few days. She removed her combat boots and left them on the rubber mat at the front of the door. She then stepped into her bathroom and closed the door behind her, removing her breast plate, revealing her simple cotton bra underneath. She then tossed it into a small washing machine on the far side of the bathroom. She then did the same with her pants, revealing a matching and equally simple pair of white panties. She then removed them and stepped into the rather well kept walk-in shower of her bathroom, closing the glass door and turning on the water, beginning her shower. After finishing cleaning up her face and hair, Maya lathered up her body scrubber and began on the rest of her body, slowly working out the kinks in her tired muscles as the relaxing waters cascaded down her soft, toned frame. Soon, it came to her attention that she was slowly drifting off into a peaceful daydream as her body went into auto-pilot and continued cleaning her skin.

Flashes of her recent adventures with her friends played on her free mind while she slowly closed her eyes and just eased back against the tiled wall of the shower, letting the beading water roll off her near perfect skin. She remembered the first time she met each of her friends and how she reacted to them. She warmed up to Axton rather quickly, but never really saw him as anything more than a sweet talker. Gaige was somewhat of a surprise to her; her peppy attitude and technological finesse made her a refreshing addition to the team as opposed to everyone else. Zero was little to her at first aside from a figure in a suit with a shiny mask that projected emotes and spoke in Haiku. She first felt afraid and attracted to his mystery but quickly passed it off as just a crush on the idea that he could have been anyone or anything as opposed to actually falling for him and thus, the feelings passed. Salvador was abrasive, loud, affronting, and above all – annoying. The dwarf of a man was strong, every one of their rag-tag team was in their own way, but he did stand out as a good soul, despite his track record. Krieg was by far the strangest of the additions to the group. Unlike Zero, who neither had nor needed a backstory for being here, Krieg was surrounded by a disconcerting whirlwind of questions that could render even the most insane indigenous peoples of Pandora uneasy on some level. Here stood a man, crazier than even the standard psychos around and three times as strong. His psyche riddled with the wounds of torture so extreme that it rendered him insane on a level that bordered on rabid and a body that showed it. Scars and old burns pocked his body, telling a tale of pain, trauma and anguish; but also one of triumph and survival. His body toned from hours upon hours of unknown practice and training that was likely habitual, leaving him with a level of muscular development that bordered on the obscene. As Maya thought, she didn't realize that her body was slowly beginning to cultivate a desire that she'd rarely ever either paid any mind to or indulged in, her hand slowly migrating down to her hips, dragging her fingertips along her skin. She remembered feeling him hold her, his body heat warming her in an embrace she never thought possible for one such as him; the look in his eye as he looked down at her with a smile beneath his mask. Her other hand now slid up the center of her stomach and up to her chest, traveling up to rub her neck and accidently grazing her left nipple, causing her to jump at the sudden feeling but then releasing a sigh in relief as her powerful daydream still gripped her logical mind. She imagined the feeling of him inhaling and exhaling, his powerful chest rising and falling with each breath as he held her that frigid night. Her right hand still migrated lower and lower, now passing her belly button, the sensation spurring itself on as her mind continued to wander. She remembered the feeling of his massive arms holding her close, his chin on her head and her sitting in his lap, cradled in a very protective manner. Like she was in need of protection and only he could do it, like she belonged in his strong, protecting arms. Her hands now both moved lower at that time, her right now just above her waistline and her left drifting towards her chest as a soft, pulsating feeling began to settle into her nerves. She now remembered the feeling of his chest pressing against her uncovered, tattooed arm and began imagining what it would have felt to feel more of his scarred, strengthened skin against hers. What it would be like to have him touch her like a woman wanted to be touched. The pulsating feeling now began to burn in her core and her skin began to tingle in anticipation of long overdue touches as her fingers ghosted over her body, leaving burning sensations in their wake. Her breath had been slowly increasing, now a soft pant as she could feel her heartbeat in her core as well as a very soft tingle of enticing, pleading, unspoken words that dragged her every motion forward in a way that she could not resist. Her fingers now both found their respective destinations and both began slowly exploring the nubs that they'd found. Her nipples now felt painfully in need of every touch and tweak and the small node on the very outskirts of her most sacred of places practically screamed out for her to play with in such a sweet torture that it would leave her only wanting more. Her mind could no longer form any sort of image of anything other than that of Krieg's massive, strong hands exploring her vulnerable body in a way that no man or woman had ever done to her in her life. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips very gently opened as she turned and slid down the wall of her shower, coming to rest in a kneeling position with her legs to her sides and her lower body available to every kind of soft touch that it was craving. Her fingers now snaked around the nipple on her tattooed breast and began to softly pinch it with the second knuckles, simulating the size of Krieg's larger fingers. Her lower hand now slinked lower to tickle the lower edges of her entrance in a way that made the pedals of her coveted body burn and grow slick with anticipation and need. Her index and middle fingers now made light walking motions as they very softly grazed the very edges of the inside of her flowery flesh, sending encouraging tingles into her every nerve and only making her need to continue grow that much stronger. She tightened her two fingers together and now moved them up and down against the inside walls of her pedals, making her begin to moan and sigh with enjoyment. At that moment, she felt that with every exhale, she was being held almost immeasurably softly by Krieg's defending arms, adding to her desires. She then tweaked her nipple in a slightly too powerful way, causing her other hand to cringe against her sodden flesh, sending a jolt of pleasure through her and causing her to release a moan louder than the rest. She shivered as the pleasure burned through her and slowly subsided, making her want another jolt and causing her to crave more and more hazed imaginings of her insane protector. She flashed back to while Krieg held her, only now, she envisioned herself straddling him, feeling his manhood press against her opening and pulsating lightly against her. Her fingers, as though under their own will, began undulating inside the edges of her body in motion to Krieg's fantasized pulse. Her eyes struggled open as she looked down momentarily to see her tattoos seeming to be a brighter shade of blue than normal; however, she was in no mood to care, she just wanted release. Her fingers now began sliding slightly deeper into her body; causing new and amazing feelings for her that forced a louder moan from her mouth and making her lose all control and exploration. In that moment, she crossed the line of erotic fantasy and entered carnal desires and didn't mind in the slightest. Her hand immediately shifted to now grope her breast, tweaking the nipple between her ring finger and her middle finger while kneading her breast with her entire hand. Her lower hand now snaked deeper and deeper into her before pulling back out and repeating the process, producing a very lewd sound that seemed to only increase her desires even more. At that exact moment, the pipes of her shower made a heavy lurch as the city reached a strong gust, producing a soft growl that, in coordination with her imagination, sounded like Krieg as she began begging for him to allow her to finish. Her groans, sighs and moans grew louder and her body grew more and more responsive to every motion that she made. She soon was moaning out sweet words to the man in her mind as she used "his hands" to pleasure herself._ I need it so bad! Oh sh-shit! Oh fu~! _She thought as she felt her insides beginning to tighten and her body growing even moister. In that moment, she felt herself erupt into the euphoria that she'd only brought herself to feel a handful of times before and only out of necessity to think more clearly. This time, however, it was exponentially more intense for her, forcing her panting and sighing to grow into screams of pleasure.

"Krieg! Oh Fuck Me!" she shouted, her eyes jolting open to look to the upper corner of the shower, her back arcing from the wall and causing her to slide down onto the floor, panting and exhausted, her eyes half-lidded. She then just laid there for several more minutes, her strength failing her but slowly returning as the moments ticked away. She soon lazily reached over with a heavy hand to turn off the shower and shifting herself back into a seated position, her legs now covering herself as she could now breathe slower.

Her mind now clearer, Maya reflected on her thoughts. _Oh… Shit…_ she thought to herself, holding a hand to her mouth and her eyes widening in shock. In several moments, she began to breathe again and blinked several times before scrambling to her still slightly shaky feet and opening the door to the shower. She took the towel off the rack and raced to get dressed. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" she cursed repeatedly, phase-locking the water out of her hair and forcing it into her signature style. She then removed her armor from the washer, realizing that it wasn't done drying, so she phased a new bra and a tank top from her dresser and dressed as quickly and precisely as she could. _Damn it, Maya! Pull it together, Girl; he's your friend and he's waiting for you to meet up with him! And… Ah, Hell! He's still covered in that pizza…_ she thought, stopping in her tracks. _Wait… He WOULD still be covered in that pizza! Awe, damn it!_ She continued.

**(Author's Note: This concludes the dirty part of this chapter. Regrettably, it was a large portion of this chapter, but I choose to take pride in the level of detail and time. Regardless, enjoy the rest of this chapter, my friends!)**

Meanwhile, Krieg paced back and forth at the fast travel, not phased in the slightest by the grimy feeling of the congealed cheese and sauce and meat stuck to his flesh. His only concern was waiting for Maya. Within moments, Maya sprinted into the small structure that housed the Fast Travel Station and stopped immediately when her eyes met with his visible one. Suddenly, in her mind played all the desire fueled daydreams that she'd had mere minutes before. Her eyes widened as she continued to stare, motionless as a cocktail of emotions ran rampant within her mind and her cheeks flushed a deep red as her lip quivered very slightly. Krieg stood, his one eye locked to hers before he spun around with a mildly annoyed growl and activated the fast travel. When he growled, Maya inhaled audibly, feeling a shock of desire in her spine. She then had to muffle a sigh as she exhaled. The teleportation activated, carrying them to Hayter's Folly in the next moment. Seconds passed and they digistructed in the large pool at the entrance of the area, looking towards the woodwork walkway that led to the next area. In the exact next second, Krieg smacked himself to break his shield and raced towards the Badass Cannoneers that he knew were always there. Maya stared on at him as he ran, spell-bound as her eyes traced along his large muscles. He jumped straight up into the air, dropping down next to the pirate and slicing his head clean open. Again, it all seemed like slow motion as she watched Krieg drop out of sight with his axe above his head; his body flexing instinctively in a fluid motion that was second nature to him now. She gulped hard as he passed and jumped down into the fray. _Goddamn it, you need to get a hold of yourself! You can't be ogling him every minute of every day!_ Maya thought to herself, shaking her head, attempting to shrug off her feelings. She stopped shaking her head to come to Krieg, now covered in slightly less pizza and a quite large amount of blood. He put his axe away and gestured for her to lead him to the waters. She did as he silently requested and led him to the springs at the bottom of the staircase. Within moments, the two stood in the middle of the pool of clean water, Krieg looking to Maya with confusion in his eyes as she looked to him expectantly. A solid minute passed like this before Maya interrupted the strange silence with a simple question.

"Am I going to have to bathe you, you big idiot?" she snapped, pointing up to him as her eyes showed signs of nervous annoyance. He nodded meekly as he truly had no idea how to do it himself. Maya's eyes shifted from annoyance to surprise and panic as she realized that he was serious and literally didn't know how to wash himself. "Um… Alright… I have something that you can use to wash up, let me get it…" she stuttered, her nervousness returning as her own thoughts began to torture her. She then shifted through her inventory and pulled out some Bullymong fur and some Spiderant Silk soap before she turned off her digistruct module and removed it, putting it on the wooden docks along with her shoes and socks, rolling up her pant legs. "H-here…" she said, handing him the fur and the soap bar. Deeply confused, Krieg looked down at the soap bar and the fur for a few moments before pushing his mask up and opening his mouth to take a bite out of the soap bar. "NO!" Maya shouted, pulling his hands away from his mouth. He pulled his mask back down to stare at her, even more confused. "So inept…" she muttered, taking back the fur and the soap before turning from him and going back to her digistruct device and turning it back on. She then pulled out a pair of swimming trunks and handing them to Krieg and pointing towards a bend in the rocks that he could use to change. He grumbled and did as she suggested, taking the trunks and changing. In several moments, he returned with his pants and axe in hand. He then walked them over to where the rest of Maya's things were and left them there. "Alright, Big Guy, sit down in the water and I'll start with your back." Maya said, evading direct eye contact. Krieg grunted and crossed his arms, falling straight back as he leaned forward and landing right on his rear, creating a large splash that hit Maya, causing her white tank to become practically see-through. Krieg looked up at her to see that her tattoos did indeed cover every part of the left side of her body. "Ugh, Damn it, Krieg…" she said in an aggravated voice as she wiped the water from her face with the lower part of her tank top. She then tied it up, exposing her stomach and most of her hips. "I guess it doesn't matter if my pants get wet anymore." She said, settling down onto her knees behind Krieg and dipping the soap into the water. "Alright, Big Guy, I need to wash you, which means touching you, so don't freak out, okay?" she asked slowly, lathering the fur clump. Krieg glanced back over his shoulder and nodded, catching a glimpse of Maya's very soft, embarrassed smile.

(Seems like she's a bit nervous, Big Guy; try not to chase her away. Just play it cool and do as she asks.) His inner voice comments before falling silent again. Krieg shifted back to stare forwards as Maya's hands moved up to his shoulder blades and started to rub them. Krieg sat in silence as she continued washing his back, slowly relaxing very slightly.

Maya on the other hand was on edge every moment that her hands were on his skin. Through the fur and suds, she could feel the thickness of his skin and her mind was swimming because of it. Her hands passed over a few of the many visible scars on his back and she shuttered inside as her mind thought of holding onto Krieg's chest and feeling them with her hands. Her movements continued slowly downward; as did the innocence of her thoughts. She reached his waist and began breathing heavily now, hanging on the verge of getting aroused in the same room as the object of her desires. She forced herself to stop at his lower back and move back to his shoulders and arms, feeling a familiar tingle inside her stomach. _I need to get a hold of myself before he finds out…_ she thought to herself, starting to rub his shoulders, removing the bits of food and washing off the blood.

"L-lift your a-arms…" she stammered, a deep cherry blush showing on her cheeks. Krieg followed her request and allowed her to wash his armpits. The moment his arms raised, Maya caught a whiff of his natural odor; however, instead of being put off by the smell, it only served to intensify the slow tainting of her thoughts. She washed under his arms while still fighting her growing desires. "T-t-turn around… Please…" she mumbled, feeling her lower stomach start to burn. Krieg grumbled and shifted his legs into a cross before using his hands to twist himself around to see her.

(Wow… She's really embarrassed by this… I think she's got a little stronger of feelings for us than you'd expect, pal…) his inner voice cut in.

Maya's eyes immediately looked straight to his chest as she gulped audibly with a dry mouth and feebly reached toward his rippling muscles with slightly shaking hands. Her breath hitched when her hands met his hard body, starting a very meek scrub of him. Almost immediately, Krieg's animalistic senses picked up the smell of Maya's bodily secretions as she began to lose the battle with her desire. His eye tightened into a squint as he sifted through the delicate smell that he could barely detect. Maya noticed the rapid and sudden intake of air that Krieg had made several times and looked up to him, her blush intensifying. _Please don't notice, please don't notice! Please! Please! Please! Please!_ Maya thought worriedly as she looked into the calculating look in Krieg's eye. In that moment, he leaned down and smelt her neck, following the smell down her arm and towards her stomach, where she stopped him softly with her hands by pushing him gently back. He looked at her quizzically; both as to why she pushed him back and why she was obviously producing this strange smell, as well as what the smell meant and why it made him feel different than he'd ever felt.

In his ever so eloquent form of words, Krieg spoke in a soft tone that he only used with her in slow moments. "The sensation that I am devouring is chilling to my flavor trends. Why is it chilling?"

Maya replied softly with a low, deeply embarrassed voice and a slight smile. "It's… uh… a girl thing… Something that you'll understand when you're ready…" she then mentally thanked the fact that Krieg wasn't sane enough to know what she was going through, but this still didn't improve her situation.

(Are you forgetting a certain disconnected voice, Siren? I know what you did in the shower. I won't tell Krieg, but I would like to know a little more about it…) Maya's smile, however small, faded in that instant and her face burned like she was about to melt as well as the fire inside her stomach kicked up at the tone of the voice as it spoke to her, teased her, goaded her to spill everything about it.

_Goddamnit! Didn't I tell you not to follow me!?_ She replied psychically, receding into the deepest parts of her mind to communicate with the voice, leaving her body in an autonomous state.

(Well, technically, yes. But technically, I didn't follow you; I both went in with you and do not possess a body with which to follow you. So I didn't actually disobey your order…) it teased, annoying her.

_I hate that you're right about that… _she said in a defeated tone as her body slowly continued washing the remainder of Krieg's chest.

(So how are you planning on dealing with all that tension? I mean, even on auto pilot, your body is struggling to keep composure; just look at how you're touching him and moving. That subtle way your body's moving is solely because of lust.) The voice commented.

Maya's eyes widened and she resumed control of her own body, speeding up the pace a little so her lust didn't get the better of her or her autonomous body. _I'll have to figure something out, just don't you dare tell him what that was until I tell you to, or I will suck you out of his mind and trap you in a prison inside mine and just let him run around like the crazed idiot he is._ Maya warned.

(Well, that's just uncalled for. I won't tell him, Maya…) the voice replied.

With that, Maya finished washing off Krieg and stood up, gesturing toward the rocks for him to change again. She then offered a hand to him so that he could get up easier which he accepted. He then walked over to the dock and grabbed his equipment and walked off to the rocks, disappearing among them for about ten minutes. After such time, he rounded the corner.

**End Chapter 6: Green means go, Red means go faster.**

I do hope the sudden change in demographic didn't shock any of you readers out there. This was a fun chapter and I'm looking forward to all the reviews that it will bring, so don't forget to write!


	7. Blood in the water

**Author's Note.**

So, I've read the reviews and I'm happy that all of you are willing to shift with the changing demographic of this story. Over all, not much of it will be hard to swallow, but some parts may be for some of you out there. Regardless of that though; your support thus far has been amazingly helpful in developing this story. Without all this wonderful feedback, this story would never have improved as much as it has. Thank you all. Enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 7: Blood in The Water**

Krieg steps out from the rocks with his pants on and axe swung over his shoulder, glad to have his old attire back on. Hanging from the end of his axe's blade, snagged on one of the jagged edges of the blade itself, were his trunks. Everything was going well for the decidedly manageable psycho as he made his way back to the main pool where Maya had been waiting for him. Krieg's life was simple and he enjoyed it, he did what he wanted (provided it didn't put innocence in danger), killed what he wanted, ate what he wanted, and fought what he wanted; his life was exactly the way a psycho would want it to be. Until the moment his eyes met with her as he returned to the pool.

Maya was getting to her feet with the soap and washer against her body. She stood to her full height and used her free hand to lightly push a lock of her bangs from her face before turning slowly to face him. She smiled a warm smile that gave him a feeling that he'd never experienced in his life, causing his eye to visibly widen in surprise. She turned from him and headed to the docks to gather her things.

(Seems like you just got a taste of what it feels like to fall for someone…) his inner voice chided, snapping him from his daze. He grumbled and walked up to the dock with her, handing her the trunks. Maya looked at the trunks before blushing softly and waving slightly sporadically.

"No! Th-those are for you! I don't need them. You'll need them for when you bathe or go swimming…" she blurted, slowly shaking off her nervousness.

Once again, that quizzical look set into Krieg's features, signaling that an explanation was necessary. Sighing audibly, Maya explained it slowly. "Alright, swimming is when you go into deep water and move around without walking through it. I'll show you…" she said, putting her gear back on and leading Krieg to a deeper part of the pool of water. She then activated her digistruct device to surround her in a mist of digistruct particles, transforming her clothes into a two piece bathing suit that was a bright yellow - like her usual combat armor - allowing Krieg to further inspect her skin; every inch of her now visible, perfect skin on the left side of her body possessed Siren tattoos.

Krieg stared at Maya as she now stood in a skin-tight bikini that accentuated every inch of her body that nothing she'd ever wore had before. In that moment, on the precipice of Krieg's mind, a new feeling struck him, causing his eye to twitch and a very small trickle of blood to drip from his nose and out of the bottom of his mask. Maya turned to him and winked with a mischievous look in her eye before crouching and vaulting into the pool, splashing Krieg almost as much as he did to her. He blinked several times before looking back to his trunks and debating putting them on or just jumping in. This thought was nearly instantly resolved with him tossing his axe into the rock next to Maya's gear and having the swimming trunks dangling on the handle of it while he got a running start and jumped into the water. He went in and his body instinctively stopped breathing, however, as he sank, he soon realized that instead of inhaling water, he was getting air as a small digistruct device in the gas apparatus on his mask created fresh, breathable air. Not knowing how to swim, he sank to the bottom of the rather deep pool of water, looking all around to see that only the hole through which he used to enter could be used as an exit. He stood there, putting his hands in his pockets before starting to walk, rapidly becoming frustrated by his sluggish movements in the resisting fluid. Taking looks in all directions, he caught Maya in the corner of his eye, her tattoos glowing a soft blue-green. She swam up to him and ghosted a hand over his mask, smiling underwater.

_How do you like the water? It's certainly different than what you're used to, but it's not bad, right?_ Maya's voice entered his mind. Krieg grumbled beneath his mask, releasing bubbles.

(That's his way of saying "It's alright", Siren…) Krieg's inner voice commented.

_I thought as much. Hey, you'll have a better time moving around if you kick with your feet and use your hands to like push yourself. _ Maya said, swimming circles around him. As she did, Krieg could see her chest rising and falling, like she was breathing.

"How are your flesh sacks drinking?!" he shouted.

_Oh! Yeah, my siren powers are working to allow me to breathe water like it's air._

(Interesting… Can all sirens do that?)

_Only the ones that can focus as well as I can… So I'd say only Angel can do it besides me. Lilith is too instinctual for that…_ she replied.

Krieg then released another soft grunt before starting to look around, noticing that even though he was underwater, his HUD still worked, meaning that his digistruct still worked as well. He then slowly moved his hand to his back, pulling a digistruct Buzz Axe from his device and holding it at the ready as he began slowly scanning the area around him for something new to kill.

(Uh… Hey, Maya? He's starting to get murderous thoughts; you may want to go get your weapons… That or get out of the way…)

_How about…_ She said, swimming into his vision, staring softly into his eye with a smile, causing his eye to widen while she started to speak. _Don't be like that, Big Guy. We're here to be with each other, not fighting… _she then held to his mask and softly pulled it up, causing him to hold his breath out of surprise while she leaned in and kissed his cheek before sliding his mask back down and looking into his eye again. He was surprised by what she'd done to the point of complete stillness; something that he could never willingly do. She then slowly removed his axe from his hand before swimming away from him with a gentle smile on her face. _No fighting, Big Guy, you're supposed to be learning how to swim…_ she then swam away as quickly as she could, dragging his axe in her right hand. Krieg then blinked, his attention snapping to his axe as Maya swam away with it. He released an aggravated grunt and jumped after her, nearly catching his axe by its blade but falling short. He couldn't react fast enough in that moment to catch her leg or anything, so he just fell slowly back to the bottom of the pool. He then tried again, this time, making a running motion as he moved towards her, extending his jump. This new attempt was too fruitless as well and the axe slipped his grasp yet again, causing him to grow aggravated slightly. He tried again, using his hands as well, attempting a pulling motion with his large hands, literally catching the water and pushing himself forward. This time, however, he caught his prize and pulled it and Maya down to the solid floor of the underground spring. His hands slinked to her shoulders, holding her in front of him while the two dropped slowly to the bottom.

_Why did your softness strike a blow against my pain meat?_ Krieg asked in his usual insane voice, leaning closer to Maya, his eye adopting subtle amounts of confusion and annoyance. Maya just smiled at him in a mildly uncomfortable but slightly playful way before her tattoos glowed a bright aquamarine color and she twisted at the hips, slipping out of his hands. She then took off like a torpedo, her legs moving like that of a whale tale. Seeing this, Krieg's eye opened wide in a level of surprise that far exceeded that of when she kissed his cheek. Her tattoos remained glowing as she swam immensely fast away from him; her legs surrounded in a shimmering energy that was producing a fin that covered her feet. Using said fin, she stopped just outside his grasp less than a second later and blew a kiss towards him before laughing psychically and darting off.

_Oh yeah! Got my edge back! That's how you do it, Maya, play hard to get!_ Maya thought to herself as she swam rapidly away from the still disoriented psycho behind her, a proud smile on her face.

(Uh oh, Big Guy, she's getting away. Make or break time now…) Krieg's inner voice chided, causing its Psycho tenant owner to grunt in frustration. He then got a positively devious idea, with the aid of his inside voice, that is. He used his Digistruct module to produce two of his Buzz Axes…

Maya was almost twenty meters away from the once confused Krieg before she turned around to see that he'd stopped pursuing her. She then saw him chuck one of his Buzz Axes practically right for her, causing her to panic and sidestep it, only to see it land near her on the ground in front of her, producing a disorienting shockwave that staggered her and deafened her momentarily…

Krieg's distraction worked successfully and he immediately threw his other axe. This one possessed a trailing chain and only traveled to about five feet behind Maya despite being aimed much farther and exploded, lodging its fragments into the floor of the underwater cavern. The chain was then completely connected to the floor, allowing Krieg to rip and muscle his way through the water with staggering speed. Within moments, he stood before Maya again, his hands now gripping to her waist and holding her in place before him. The shock caused Maya to look at his face through her daze, a surprised blush appearing on her face.

_Now I will swallow again, Pretty Fish; why is your softness mounting a counterattack?!_ Krieg asked and shouted simultaneously at the shaken sea siren.

Mays opened and closed her mouth several times as she slowly came back to her senses due to Krieg's well-designed sensory overload and his actions to fluster her. _Because it was fun, Big Guy… _She then leaned in closer to him to stare intensely into his eye before continuing. _And you know you liked the chase._ She then spun around again, lifting her arms above her head and slithering almost flawlessly between Krieg's legs to sort of stand behind him and lean over his shoulder to kiss his neck before darting off again playfully. Krieg then whipped around to see her swim away, a smile on his face beneath his mask. He then released an insane laugh and pulled out one of his Rapier Rifle and stabbed himself in the foot. His shield broke and he took off into a dead underwater sprint, slowly gaining speed as his muscles acclimated to the denser surroundings. While he was getting used to working underwater, he was still no match, in terms of speed, for Maya and she was effortlessly keeping him at a range.

(This isn't working very well, Champ…) Krieg's inner voice commented, causing Krieg to shout out in annoyance and sit down on the stone as his shield recharged. (Hmm… What about we try what we used before, but instead of using something that explodes, we use something that is really heavy?) Krieg's inner voice said slowly, streaming images of the Anchormen from the area into Krieg's mind. (See? Not a bad idea. Oh, and here's something you'll like…)

Krieg then removed his Tortious Shield and equipped his Love Thumper and materialized twin Buzz Axes for each hand. These Axes, however, possessed many blades fastened to the inside of them so that they could be used as swung slashing weapons, each blade possessing curved and pointed spikes as opposed to blades and didn't spin. He then hurled one of the axes past Maya and ripped with all his might at the chain, pulling himself toward her before chucking the other and alternating when the previous was reached. It was all the more effective due to the explosion that served to lodge his new weapons into the ground deeper due to his shield boosting his melees. His massive amounts of strength served to actually allow him to physically drag himself forward in a way that looked similar to the strangest form of swimming that could or perhaps ever would be observed by any living thing in the known universe. Maya was keeping him out of range with great difficulty as his strength and speed were intimidating to say the least. She was working so hard to keep him at least arm's length from her, that she hardly got the time to laugh before one of his axes would dig into the ground several inches away from where she was when it launched.

_Damn, he's really not into the playing, I take it…_ Maya thought, gasping when one of the spikes almost hit her, missing by only an inch. The next one missed by even less, practically sailing over her vary skin and narrowly missing the string responsible for holding her bikini over her assets.

(Whoa! Dial it back, Big Guy! You're going to hurt the little lady!) Krieg's inner voice shouted into his mind. Krieg's eyes widened and he immediately ripped his next lunge away from her as it left a very slight score on her skin, just on her cheek, leaving no wound whatsoever. Maya stood in place, her feet touching the stone ground and her eyes wide in shock for many reasons. First; Krieg was either lucky or very good at judging his weapons, despite his insanity. Second; she could have just been killed, or worse, exposed to her psycho crush. And third; Krieg isn't very good at playing teasing games like these.

Maya stood for several moments with her mouth agape before she tried to psychically speak, _Holy. Fuck._ She said, touching the slightly itching mark on her left cheek. Seeing what he'd almost done, Krieg looked down to his hands in silence, his hands beginning to shake. He then clenched his hands into fists around the chains before slowly looking up to stare at Maya with an immensely pained aura oozing from his eye while his shoulders were slumped. He then looked up instantly and hurled his axes towards the hole, catching it and hoisting himself out of the spring, disappearing into the light above the hole. Maya looked at the hole for several seconds, her shock still gripping her muscles. She then blinked several times before bolting straight towards the hole and following him out. When she got up, she grabbed her digistruct, not caring about her clothing at that moment completely, and using it to change her bikini into her suit automatically while she continued to sprint after him. She passed the bloodied, lacerated corpses of the pirates that respawned while Krieg was running. "Wait!" she shouted desperately, holding her hand towards him as he dematerialized into digistruct particles. She caught up to him only one second too late, catching a glimpse of his eye as he turned towards her right before teleporting to nobody knows where. His eye was filled with indescribable sorrow and remorse that made Maya's heart stop and ache with a pain that she'd never felt in her entire life.

**End Chapter 7: Blood in the Water.**

This chapter is a bit short, but I think it's complete. Send me what you think, everybody! Thanks for reading.


	8. Blood Trail

**Author's Note: Here it is, friends; the next part of my story. I have been thinking about how to get this chapter off without having it run by too quickly or amount to very little and just turn into filler, so without any more delay, here it is.**

**Chapter 8: Blood Trail. Begin.**

Silence. A cold, chilling burn circulated through the air so quickly that it was inescapable but so slowly that it lingered on the skin and in the hearts and souls of all those that were trapped in its crippling embrace. Nothing felt real at that moment. Like the entire last 24 hours didn't happen. Like it was all a dream that, like all dreams, you were powerless to stop without tearing it apart or waking up; it felt like one wrong move and it would fracture into so many pieces that even the miraculous amounts of weapons readily available on this dreadful planet that the Vault Hunters called home couldn't shine a candle to its true quantity. A confused shiver wracked Maya's spine and pulled her very gently from her stunned and motionless state of shock. _What just happened?_ Maya thought, her mind as blank as the ten feet that stood between her and the fast travel station in Hayter's Folly.

_**Flashback: Two minutes ago.**_

_Krieg's eyes widened and he immediately ripped his next lunge away from her as it left a very slight score on her skin, just on her cheek, leaving no wound whatsoever. Maya stood in place, her feet touching the stone ground and her eyes wide in shock for many reasons. First; Krieg was either lucky or very good at judging his weapons, despite his insanity. Second; she could have just been killed, or worse, exposed to her psycho crush. And third; Krieg isn't very good at playing teasing games like these._

_Maya stood for several moments with her mouth agape before she tried to psychically speak, 'Holy. Fuck.' She said, touching the slightly itching mark on her left cheek. Seeing what he'd almost done, Krieg looked down to his hands in silence, his hands beginning to shake. He then clenched his hands into fists around the chains before slowly looking up to stare at Maya with an immensely pained aura oozing from his eye while his shoulders were slumped. He then looked up instantly and hurled his axes towards the hole, catching it and hoisting himself out of the spring, disappearing into the light above the hole. Maya looked at the hole for several seconds, her shock still gripping her muscles. She then blinked several times before bolting straight towards the hole and following him out. When she got up, she grabbed her digistruct, not caring about her clothing at that moment completely, and using it to change her bikini into her suit automatically while she continued to sprint after him. She passed the bloodied, lacerated corpses of the pirates that respawned while Krieg was running. "Wait!" she shouted desperately, holding her hand towards him as he dematerialized into digistruct particles. She caught up to him only one second too late, catching a glimpse of his eye as he turned towards her right before teleporting to nobody knows where. His eye was filled with indescribable sorrow and remorse that made Maya's heart stop and ache with a pain that she'd never felt in her entire life._

_**Flashback: End. Present time.**_

Maya's muscles ached and her thoughts seemed to roil up in her head in a sickening cacophony of pain and emotions. She couldn't differentiate the emotions as they swirled and swashed through her mind except for one. The single strongest emotion in the maelstrom was a mind numbing level of regret. Regret that she didn't realize that he wasn't like most men until it was too late. What started as playful quickly became something much more dangerous. And he didn't realize it either until he was almost losing himself in blind psychopathic fury.

That second thought caused Maya's heart to sink painfully. _I was supposed to be the voice of logic in this team… The one who would tell him when he was doing wrong, especially when his inner voice didn't understand something either... Damn it! _She thought, closing her eyes tightly_. But I couldn't get it together before it was too late. This was my fault._ Maya's mind then settled into an agonizing self-loathing that wracked every part of her heart. Trying desperately to hold back her pain, she clasped her hands together and brought them up to her chest, over her heart. _Even as a psycho, he was sweet. And I fucked EVERYTHING UP!_ Maya shouted internally, tears seeping into her clenched eyes, threatening to overflow. _But I can also make it wright…_ Maya thought, her hands tightening and her eyes opening, revealing a determination that would frighten away most bandits in her path, should any decide it was wise. She then pulled out her Volcano Maliwan Rifle and sprinted straight towards the Fast Travel, punching in the code for The Badass Creator Of Badassitude.

Within moments, Maya stood at the station where all the Vault Hunters first met the comical antics of Mr. Torgue first-hand. She then lifted up her Echo Communicator and dialed in all the other Vault Hunters. "This is Maya. Krieg is missing. You all know how bad that could get for our effort to unify Pandora. Find him. Quickly." She spoke with a practiced coldness that sent shivers down the spines of Salvador before a protest could be uttered from his drunken maw and Angel simply out of fear. She then hung up the call before even saying another word. She then began to sprint toward the opening of the area, before stopping in her tracks at the clearing after the signature board She then activated her echo again, dialing up Mr. Torgue himself.

"THIS IS MISTER TORGUE, MOTHER F%CKER! HOW MAY I BE OF ASSISTANCE!?" he shouted in his overly aggressive manner.

"Torgue. Krieg's missing. Is he anywhere around here, wreaking havoc?" Maya asked in the same spine chilling crispness that actually caused Torgue to speak quietly out of fear.

"Uh… Sorry, Ms. Siren… Haven't seen him. I'll keep an eye out though." He then hung up the call with shaky hands. His nervousness apparent in the multiple clicking and thumping sounds that the other end of the line made as he fumbled shakily with the handset to end the call.

Moments passed as Maya simply stood, her hands slowly clenching into fists and her eyes closing and slowly tightening as her hands began to shake with anger. She then unleashed a bone chilling scream, brimming with hatred and underlying sorrow that echoed through the creator. To her right, she then heard the sounds of several Skags growling and one producing its angered bark as it charged. Without even looking, Maya lifted her sniper rifle with one arm and blindly pulled the trigger, her anger guiding her bullet true. It split the head of the beast, combusting it instantly as it fell in a heap. Sensing the malicious intent and the willingness to unleash it upon them, the other Skags retreated into their lairs with several whimpers and left the fuming siren alone. She turned on her heal, glaring at the shivering beasts before trudging back from whence she came, resuming her search with a huff.

"He's not at Lynchwood." Axton reported in.

"Jakob's Cove neither." Zed stated.

"Same at Candlerackk's Krag." Gaige said blandly.

"He's not in Thousand Cuts, Slabs." Brick said with a grunt.

"Not in Tundra Express…" Mordecai groaned before swigging from his ale.

"Keep searching. He's not in The Badass Creator either. I'm going to get a runner and check The Dust next." Maya said, her voice seething once again.

"Don't bother, Sugar. Ellie told me that he hasn't been around." Moxxi said in a sultry voice.

"No esta en la cantina de los Zaffords." Salvador hollered.

"Wildlife Exploitation Preserve came up empty. He is not here." Zero stated in a smooth tone.

"He's not in the Highlands either, Soldier." Roland added.

"Oi! He's not 'round here, Vault Hunters!" Scarlett spoke up, her cheery yet doubled edged voice cutting at their ears.

"He has to be around here somewhere." Mays said, closing her communicator before turning on the fast travel again and heading to The Caustic Caverns, being destructed moments later.

She arrived at the underground acidic environment several seconds later and took off towards the massive steel doors, punching the release switch. By now, she was so worried and enraged, that her tattoos were alight and she was surrounded on all sides by flames and acid. She simply stormed through the caverns, ignoring everything as it burned and corroded around her or left her alone to her search. In several minutes, she returned to the massive doors with a terrifying scream of anger so startling that one of the flying Varkids above dropped about 200 feet to the ground with a hard spatter, dying instantly. She turned hesitantly towards the sound before huffing and calming herself enough to check in.

"Report." She demanded.

"He's not in The Fridge." Angel mumbled nervously.

"Bloodshot Stronghold and Ramparts clear." Axton stated.

"Frostburn Cavern is empty." Lilith said.

"My Slabs reported that be ain't killin' Sawteeth either." Brick boomed.

"He's got to be somewhere. Check everywhere." Maya commanded.

"Haven't tried ENGORGE! Yet? Then wh-… ot… Th- s… This is Athena. I heard your chatter and I thought I'd update you as well. He hasn't been to T-Bone Junction or any of the old Lance Strongholds either. Athena- out." She said, then her echo cast going silent.

"Huh. Haven't heard from her in a while. Well. He's not there then." Roland said in a surprised voice.

"The Dahl Headland is clear." Mordecai said, his new young dragon-like bird screeching in the background in agreement.

Then, revelation struck the fuming siren. "Claptrap!" she shouted.

"AHHHH!" the screechy bot shouted over the Echo, a metallic thump immediately following. "Wha-What?" he stuttered in terror.

"Have you and the other Claptraps gotten the train system running yet?" Maya asked.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's finished, I mean, we only have like, twenty of us down here working on the damn thing! Well, there's that and our resolve is wearing a bit thin. You can only sing "I've been working on the Space Tram" so many times before it gets boring and you want to stop but don't know anything else to sing so you keep singing anyway. Why do you ask?" the little, annoying robot replied nervously.

"Claptrap! This is not the time for your idiotic B.S.! Is it operational or not!?" Maya shouted, her patience wearing thin, a vain popping out on the side of her head and her eye twitching slightly.

"OH! Well, if you use the train cars, yeah. Just don't set a foot on the tracks, otherwise; Crappochino." he replied, his voice giddy, seemingly unfazed by the demanding Siren.

"Great…" Maya began, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose before continuing, her eyes shut out of anger. "Just have your friends off the tracks in two minutes or they'll be reduced to the scrap they were before Gaige fixed them up in her free time." Maya said slowly, removing her hand from her nose and pulling out her favorite revolver.

"Great! Will you bring milk and cookies? We have been waiting for the Christmas Dwarf to- he was then cut off by Maya ending the call and trudging back to the Fast Travel and punching in the coordinates of Claptrap's House and traveling there seconds later.

Several moments passed and Maya rematerialized in the center of Claptrap's Place.

"AHHHH!" one screamed, holding a magazine over his lower half as he sat on the toilet in the far side of the room with the door open. He then slammed it shut and the sounds of fearful shuttering could be heard as the Claptrap everyone knew best rolled up to her with his hands drawn out to either side enthusiastically. "Welcome to my humble abode! Right this way, Minion. I will show you to the tracks!" he said in his stereotypically high and happy voice. Maya kicked him out of the way, sending him into the wall beside the door frame and stomped out of the underground house and took off into a sprint towards the prepped train car and hit the switch before hopping into it and allowing it to carry her off.

With a sigh, Maya sat down onto the seat in the middle right side of the car and allowed herself to relax for several moments. She then lazily picked up her Communicator and opened the channel. "I'm heading up on a lead. Keep looking, everyone."

"Of course. The Eridium Blight and Hero's Pass are also clear." Angel said in a soft, less startled voice.

With that, Maya closed down the call and leaned her head back onto the seat, her mind finally catching up to her emotions. _Krieg, you sick son of a bitch, I'm gonna kick your ass so hard that not even someone who enjoys pain like you do will be able to sit down for a week!_ Maya then released another sigh. _I just hope he's alright when we find him._ She thought, her emotions changing direction and intensity like a spreading fire. _If he's not, I'll bring him back to life like we did with Angel and kill him all over again… If he's not too hurt._ She then cuddled up to her knees in the seat, resting her head forward on them and tightening her arms around them while she closed her eyes. _Please be alright, you big Lummox…_ she thought as tears began to burn at the inside of her eyelids. She then sniffled softly and inhaled, trying to get a grip on her emotions, but only releasing a shaky breath after, her tears overflowing the instant her lungs emptied. She sobbed in anguish as the train continued to trudge on along the track towards the station where she and Krieg first met.

_**Meanwhile, With Krieg.**_

He sat motionless against the steel side of the Hyperion station, his mind deep in thought and a single salty trail from a tear marking his face and the edge of his mask as he stared off into the twilight of the mid-afternoon.

(I tell you, Big Guy; we are probably better off away from everyone now that we've taken down Hyperion.) His inner voice spoke up, trying to comfort the large man as he sat. Krieg nodded, whimpering like a small child as his parents tried to sooth away his sadness. (That's the spirit! And don't worry; we'll come back to them someday. And we'll make everything wright with them again!) It continued to say. (And we'll never have to worry about hurting any of them again.) It spoke up again. Krieg released another whimper and nodded again, his face rubbing against the cool steel. (And Maya will love us for the rest of our lives. You'll see. Just don't lose hope, Big Guy.) Krieg's mind them began to wander and he started to remember all the fun and strange moments that he had with Maya. All the new things she taught him; all the different emotions he felt around her that he'd never felt before. He then remembered her soft laugh as she teased him underwater, her kind voice as she spoke to him with a smile.

"Krieg. What am I ever going to do with you?" she spoke in a soft, almost distant voice, causing his eyes to water instinctually and his heart to warm in a way he'd only felt around her.

"The soft one is so nice I can swallow her noise box from the insides of my shattered grievances…" Krieg muttered, his eye finally releasing the new tear that was flooding it and blurring his vision.

(I hear her too, Big Guy. Don't worry; you're not the one who's going to miss her.) His inner voice commented in a solemn voice.

"Hey. Turn around." Her voice said, louder now. Krieg's eye widened and he turned around to see her standing over him with a smile and tears streaming down her face, ruining her make-up. She then dropped to her knees and embraced him, her face buried in his neck and her sobs muffled by his skin as her tears rolled down his shoulder and back. Krieg momentarily hesitated, his eye wide and his insane mind reeling in surprise as he struggled to differentiate reality from delusion. He then slowly coiled his arms around her, resting them on her shoulders and holding her close, closing his eye and causing another tear to roll down his face as he shifted so his chin rested upon her shoulder softly.

(We'll never run away like that again! Won't we, Krieg?) His inner voice spoke shakily into her mind. "I…"he then sniffled through his mask. "I agree with… The Little Man…" he said, holding her tighter, more of his silent tears slipping from his eye.

**End Chapter 8: Blood Trail.**

Well, I was going to ask if I should end it here on such a happy note, but I was thinking that I still have a few curve balls left for this story. Review for me, guys! I want to know what you think as well as hear some of your suggestions for some future character interactions. I'm thinking of having this story at least reach chapter 12, but I think it might end there depending on what else interests me in this story. Thanks for the support so far, everyone, I'm looking forward to everything you all have to say!


	9. Veins of Fire - Part 1

** Author's Note:**

Well, friends, this is chapter nine of my story. I will admit, last chapter wasn't as eventful as I'd have hoped, but overall, I'm happy with how it fell into place into the story and how well it was received. As always, I love writing this fanfiction and am happy that so many people like reading it. As I said, I will keep writing this story for a while yet, but it may take a few twists and turns that not all of you may agree with. Everyone; please enjoy this next chapter. I know I will.

**Chapter 9: Veins of Fire – Part 1. Begin.**

This was definitely strange. Those eyes; they were filled with a sorrow that only left the heart burning with the desire to console and sooth it away. Maya, in that moment, felt herself holding him again, like it was the same moment that she'd found him and no time had elapsed whatsoever. The fact that they didn't move made it even more disorienting. Even after the ten minutes that they just hugged softly and the sweet words that were (sort of) shared between Krieg and herself, she couldn't lighten the load on her heart for even letting him run away from her. She felt like for not stopping him while he was only playing, she was stuck at a cross roads. She had showed him a level of playfulness that he wasn't ready for and she should have realized that before it became the issue that it had escalated into, but at the same moment, she was slightly glad that it had happened. It had taught him that he had crossed the line that she didn't alert him to. **He** had been the one to realize it, not her. **He** was the one that scolded **himself**, not her, not his inner voice, no one else. Just him. But how? How was he able to realize it when the very event slipped her mind and she didn't stop to think of it? How was it that he was able to react at exactly the right moment and she wasn't? What had changed? Just a few days ago, he was nothing more than a bloodthirsty psychopath under a tight leash. A monster in a form-fitting cage. A killing machine set in low-gear. But now; now he stood as something new. Something that was so much stronger than he once was but fragile enough to break at any moment. Yes, something had definitely changed in him, but what? What had changed? What was different?

With a grumble so soft that it barely registered to her occupied mind, Maya was gingerly pulled from her thoughts to behold a sight that only made her heart ache more and her brain spark with new ideas and notions that she couldn't sort through. Krieg was looking into her puzzled eyes with a pained joy that she was unprepared for; a glint of humanity that she wouldn't have expected from the walking apocalypse. His face was solemn and very softly contorted with happiness. Happiness that she'd found him. Happiness that he wasn't overlooked by the stunning woman which he'd had the company of for the last few days.

(Thank you.) Krieg's inner voice interrupted; so softly that it could only be understood, not heard.

_For what?_ Maya thought, her mind reeling.

(For caring enough to look for us.) It replied, the shaky tone betraying the façade that it tried to construct. The way it sounded was like even this disembodied voice was feeling the full force of the event; as if it was still attached to the nerves of its former head, leaching reality from its own previous abode. Krieg silently nodded his face downcast and his eye still faintly wet. Maya held him so close; she could feel each shaky breath that the muscular man took. She could feel his muscles struggle to stay sturdy and his heart pulse so softly, like his heart was only barely beating, weighed down with so much pain it was crushing it. Again, Maya was stuck in her own world of thought as Krieg's every move betrayed his usual overbearing, bloodthirsty, insane ways.

"What is the carving in these woods?" Krieg mumbled, his eye still not meeting hers.

Surprised by his words, Maya pulled back and stared deeply into his visible eye, silently pleading it to look up. His eye reluctantly met with hers and she started to speak. "I… I don't really know…" She then started thinking quickly, her eyes darting from left to right as her contemplation finally yielded a result of some sort. "Maybe you're evolving? Maybe that's not the right word for it…" she paused as she began to think more about her answer. "I was thinking that earlier, when you scraped me." She then looked deeper into his eyes before he looked away with pain. "You felt bad; right?" she asked in such a soft voice that Krieg had to look up at her, wondering if it was even her speaking. He met her eyes and nodded hurriedly. _Good. Then I might be wright._ Maya thought to herself with a hopeful smile before continuing. "That's good. This time, I didn't have to show you that you had done something wrong." She spoke up, her eyes adopting a powerful joy. Krieg was confused to the point of slight annoyance. "Do you understand?" she asked softly, a smile playing on her lips. She repressed it as to not antagonize the distraught hulk of a man in his moment of need. Krieg shook his head, growing slightly more annoyed by her subterfuge. "You're learning wright from wrong! I didn't have to tell you that you did wrong for you to feel bad about it!" Maya said excitedly, hugging him quickly before pulling away. Krieg's eyes widened as he met her eyes.

(Wait… So, Big Guy did something wright? Without our help?) His inner voice spoke up, its voice more positive than it had previously been. Maya's smile widened happily as she nodded with mirth. (You're kidding… That's great!) The inner voice said loudly with joy as well. (Our boy is growing up! Oh, Honey, I'm so happy!) it said with a fake teary voice, causing Maya to roll her eyes with a reminiscent smile on her face and Krieg to grumble with annoyance.

_**Meanwhile; in Sanctuary**_

"This is troublesome." Angel sighed, holding her hand to her forehead in a worried tone as she leaned against the wall. She stood in the precipice of the balcony against the door frame with her head turned to look out toward the dim skies of Pandora. In a sudden but not unwelcome movement, Zero dropped from the overhanging roof with a flip on his wrists and coming to stand a few feet to her right. He moved so silently, that the others didn't notice as they sat and continued to worry about the deranged man and the newly missing siren that led the charge to find him. "Hello, Friend." Angel spoke in a soft voice.

Zero turned towards her, his motions seemingly more fluid as he addressed her and relaxed against the wall that the precipice was connected to. "Hello to you." He spoke up in a near whisper, his heavily modulated voice crackling and seeming to vibrate in his helm. It sounded so personal and so soft, that Angel shivered, feeling as though she'd just experienced his equivalent to a seductive voice. Her cheeks reddened and her knees felt week as the endearing tones echoed through her mind, forcing out the worry for her siren sister. Zero caught her buckling movements and placed a hand on her shoulder to help her stabilize herself. Feeling Zero's four fingered hand lightly hold her steady caused her to look into the deep darkness of his faceplate and her blush to deepen to a full cherry red. She breathed rapidly as her heart beat vigorously against her chest and she lost all strength in her knees. She slowly slid down onto the floor, her eyes still locked in his. _I wonder if his eyes are as beautiful as the sheen in his helm…_ she thought dreamily as she blushed all the more before she heard him speak.

"You need to rest now/ You must be quite exhausted/ I'll take you to bed." He spoke in a near whisper. When Angel heard what he'd said, she blushed even harder and could hear her heartbeat in her ears as her breathing became ragged. Her eyes widened as her mind raced. _He… Wants to… Take me to…_ She thought before she fainted in his arms out of realizing what his exact words were. Surprised as to what had caused such a reaction in her, Zero projected an exclamation point as he silently looked all around for the others to see if they were within earshot. He looked to see everyone had moved into another room within the command center. Sighing in a tired tone, Zero gently lifted the unconscious siren into a bridal carry and hopped down from the balcony and carried her to their hideaway. However, unknown to anyone, not even Angel, his hideaway was also where he lived; a hidden door well secured with a hidden touch pad that only he could use. He punched in his code and the false wall slid away to reveal a small room fashioned out of heavy pieces of the foundation that had lifted with the city; stacked and molded precariously into a small shelter with a bed and bathroom. He placed the sleeping siren on the bed and simply sat in the far corner of the room, waiting for her to stir.

_**Meanwhile; in the Crimson Raider Base**_

All the other Vault Hunters were now either gone or reclining in some chairs in the far side of the lower levels of Tannis' lab.

"Huh, where'd they go now?" Mordecai asked, finally noticing that Zero and Angel were missing. "Wait… Were they even with us when we came down here?"

"Donno, Mordy, I thought they were behind you." Brick replied, plopping heavily down onto the battered seat in the far side of the room, well away from Tannis and her experiments.

"I assume they were talking about something on the balcony. I didn't see them follow us out." Roland spoke up. Never looking up from the digital screen projecting from the piece of Lance Armor attached to his wrist.

"Well, I can't tell if she's in any danger, she's not panicking." Lilith said offhandedly, receiving awkward looks from the others. "What? We're sirens; we know these things about each other after being together so long."

"Well, in any case, we still have no radio contact with Maya or Krieg. We should hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We'll send out a-

"No." Lilith broke in, taking Roland by surprise by swiping her hand over the panel on his arm and shutting off the screen.

"What?" he asked confused at what she'd just said.

"I said no. I just felt her; she's fine. So's Krieg based on what I'm getting from her emotions; so there's nothing to worry about." Lilith stated in a bored tone.

"Huh… Didn't know you could do that, Lil." Mordecai spoke up before taking a long swig from his ale.

"Yeah, it's hard. Really drains us sirens. Angel taught it to Maya and me, but we don't use it much." Lilith replied, falling heavily into her chair with a heavy sigh as her tattoos stopped glowing.

"Then in that case, I'm just gonna go." Axton said in a nonchalant voice before standing straight from his lean against the wall next to where Brick was sitting. He then placed his hands in his pockets and sauntered out of the room. Gaige glanced at the commando as he strolled out of the crowded room. She then received a sturdy elbow to the mechanical arm by Brick, causing her to look to him puzzled. He then winked at her and subtly nodded in the direction of the leaving commando with a slight grin that only she could see from the angle he sat. She gulped hard before standing up and dusting off her skirt. She plastered on a playful smile and skipped up ahead of him only to stop and turn around. She waited momentarily while he caught up and started to walk backwards with a backwards lean that pushed her chest out a little while she settled her hands on the back of her head like his were.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked with a peppy voice.

"I donno… Was thinkin' a headin' out to the Dust and testin' out an improvement to my turret. Wanna join?" Axton asked with a sweet smile.

"Hmm… Nah! Sounds boring! I have a better idea!" Gaige replied, smiling brightly towards him as she tipped farther back. She then spun around to head him off and look him square in the face.

"Uh… Wha- Gah!"

Axton was lucky to have gotten that far into what he was trying to say before the young girl tightened her mechanical hand into his lapels and ripped him off balance and towards the Fast Travel Station. "Come on!" she shouted happily, the stunned commando in toe.

"Um… Gaige?" Axton spoke up with a slightly unnerved voice just as the Fast Travel teleported them off to the Hyperion Bridge.

Meanwhile, Brick was watching, a soft chuckle leaving his throat as he closed his eyes and leaned back more into his chair.

"Whatcha laughin' 'bout, Brick?" Mordecai asked curiously, softly rubbing the chin of his dragon-like companion.

"Just thinking how cute those two are." Brick replied, a slight grin on his lips.

"You're right, bud, they do you look cute t'gether… Though I wouldda expected him to go after Maya." Mordecai said with a playful smile.

"Me too, boys. But not even Axton's crazy enough to mess with a territorial Psychopath." Lilith piped in, her voice slightly more playful than usual.

"Yeah, or a pissed off siren that coulda phased him through a wall." Mordecai added.

"…Or Gaige's Best Friend…" Roland spoke softly, a smirk on his face while he walked off back upstairs. They all shared a laugh before following their somewhat more relaxed friend up the stairs for more reminiscing and over all bullshitting.

_**With Zero and Angel; Sanctuary Undergrounds**_

Zero sat silently with his blade set in his lap and his legs crossed. He hadn't moved since he sat down and waited for the young siren in his bed to stir to life. In his mind, Zero was at a loss as to what could have caused her to so quickly go from simply relaxing in the late-day Pandoran sun to weak at the knees to fainting in his arms. Something must have been wrong with her; she even looked flushed. _Was she sick? No, she couldn't have been. I thoroughly checked everyone…_ he thought to himself, activating a hologram function that he'd added to his Echo Communicator and bringing up the files that he'd been keeping on his friends, delving into Angel's. _She appears to have an elevated heart rate when in my presence._ He thought, pulling up more of her records. _Hmm… And an elevated breathing as well; I am quite curious…_ his mind ticked on, checking his amassed database of known diseases in the Universe. _No results…_ he wondered, moving on to human physiological responses, punching in all the stimuli that he had noticed at that time. _Perhaps I should add myself as a stimulus. I may be a cause…_ Immediately following the action of placing himself into the equation and hitting the activate command, the formula sprung to life, calculating the possible causes for her reaction as well as what her reaction might have been.

_**Results:**_

_**Emotional/ Physical/ Instinctual Response 64%.**_

_**Climate/ Exterior Atmospheric Conditions 28%**_

_**Overexertion During Pursuit of Psycho, Krieg 5%**_

_**Siren Power Use Throughout Preceding Days 2%**_

_**Other/ Indeterminate Circumstances 1%**_

The algorithm suggested that some sort of biological response was the cause of her distress. He punched in another calculation to determine the possible reasons that this may have occurred. The next two results suggested, with 87% accuracy, that he was the cause and that the reaction was that of a positive emotional nature. _Hmm…_ he thought, closing the screen and returning his attention to the sleeping siren as she began to stir in the bed. Zero rose to his feet and stepped silently towards her, inspecting her facial expression in closer detail. Her face was relaxed, but she still possessed a very faint pink coloring to her cheeks. _Could it be that she is physically attracted to me in some way?_ He surmised, rubbing the back of his neck. _Most confusing…_ he thought with an audible sigh, standing straight up and turning from her. He then stopped at the sound of her grumbling in her sleep and turning gently. She inhaled deeply and made a light moan as she moved about the bed, stretching her relaxed muscles. She slowly opened her eyes, groggy from the sudden and somewhat forced rest.

"Hi…" she said offhandedly, her mind still too clouded by sleep to notice that she was in a foreign bed, in an unfamiliar room, with an assassin.

"Hello." Zero replied in a surprised yet smooth voice. Angel's demeanor tensed slightly as she opened her eyes wider and focused on the strange man.

"Wait… Uh… Zero? Why are you in my room?" she asked, completely bewildered.

"This isn't your room/ This is mine. I brought you here/ After you passed out." He replied in a slow voice as to try not to alarm the young siren.

"What? Th-this is your room!?" she stammered, her face rapidly reddening. _Too late to keep her calm…_ Zero thought as he listened. He then slowly nodded. "Th-then… This i-is… Your…" she continued, now beginning to shake nervously as she looked down to the soft, seemingly barely used and very soft bed that she was now sitting on. Zero again nodded. Her blush returned in full swing and this time, covering a very large portion of her cheeks while her eyes went wide but couldn't achieve direct contact with his faceplate. In her embarrassment and nervousness, she failed to realize that he was moving slowly closer to her and soon was sitting next to her on the bed. She only noticed his change in position when she felt his four fingered hand placed on hers in a gentle and uncertain action. Her eyes bolted to his face when she completely realized that he really was _intentionally_ holding _her hand_.

Then he spoke. His words the most enigmatic song that she could ever imagine, their quality of tone and subtle hues of emotion like notes that made her heart flutter with so many emotions. "Please relax." He said softly, causing her heart to race and her nervousness only to increase. His words were so smooth, they could have been a noose around her neck and she wouldn't have felt them until the trapdoor snapped open. She was intoxicated by his every utterance and silently wished he'd tell her another of his amazing, almost instinctual poems. Then she practically lost consciousness again when she heard him speak again.

"Do you need a drink/ You must be needing fluids/ To just drop like that." He said, beginning to rise to get her a glass of water. She then weakly took his wrist, stopping him without a word. But when he turned around and projected a question mark, she dare not meet his gaze for fear as to what she'd say or do.

"N-no…" she replied finally, retracting her hand from his wrist and placing hers in her lap nervously. "…I mean… I'm alright… I was j-just tired is all…" she spoke softly.

"Okay." He said simply, settling back down next to her softly on the bed. _The evidence is stacking quite nicely; she must be drawn to me._ He thought to himself, a pleased smile on his concealed lips. He was pleased for two reasons: first was that he had been correct, the second being that she was so taken with him that she was incapable of acting casually with only him around. Several silent moments passed between the pair until Zero spoke up again. "You seem stressed." He said in a stoic voice.

"I… Yeah. It's… Confusing is all. Having a friend disappear and not knowing where they are." Angel replied, her voice becoming more even as she thought of other things. She looked up to Zero's faceplate for acknowledgment, he then nodded and she continued. "But I'm guessing that since you're still here with me, that everything's fine now." Zero again nodded softly, projecting a smiley face emoticon. "That's good. I'd check, but I'm smart enough to read the signs." Angel then smiled softly and Zero cut the smiley face and turned it into a question mark as he waited for her to continue out of curiosity. Her smile brightened slightly as she continued. "I can't help but think that you enjoy my company, Zero. You're still here with me despite me being perfectly fine. So, I have to assume that you like being around me."

"You're correct, Angel/ I enjoy your company/ You're very relaxed." Zero replied without much hesitation. Angel's smile dropped as her cheeks burnt again and her eyes widened in surprise.

"I… Uh… Th-thank you." She stammered as her cheeks reddened again and she forced herself to look into his helm. Zero shifted softly into a meditative position while he remained sitting on the bed.

"I think you should meditate for a bit, Angel. You seem quite stressed out." Zero spoke up after several moments, a sly smile forming on his lips as he ended his synthetic speech through the modulator of his helmet.

"Uh… Yeah… Maybe you're right." Angel agreed, shifting her legs out from under herself and into a crossed position like his. They faced each other as they sat in silence. Angel had closed her eyes and was doing everything as she usually did, only her mind, strangely enough, was still as clouded by uncertain emotions as it was when she closed them. Grimacing visibly, she sighed in a very forced manner that caused Zero to open his, keeping from projecting anything as he watched. _I really need to relax. I need to clear my mind, need to stop thinking about everything and just CALM DOWN._ She thought to herself, taking in another deep breath and closing her eyes.

"Troubled?" Zero asked simply, finally projecting a question mark and mildly shocking Angel as her eyes shot open yet again.

In a mousy voice, Angel replied as best she could. "N-no."

"Very well." Zero spoke up again, causing his projection to fade and silence to envelope the pair again.

Moments turned into insufferable minutes as Angel's mind clouded with more and more emotions that she couldn't explain or follow. She released a frustrated sigh before speaking in a mildly annoyed voice. "Okay, yes. I have a lot on my mind. The meditation is helping, but not much."

"Tea would do you good/ Something warm to sooth the mind/ Sounds like you need it." Zero said softly, shifting around to drape his legs over the edge of the bed before standing up. He then turned around and held a hand out to her. Angel carefully brought her hand to his with a very faint smile on her lips at the kind gesture. Then when her hand touched his, a single powerful thought bellowed through her mind like a Lev-Train. _Wait… He offered to get me tea… So he knows what tea is… Which means he's drank tea before! Which means he's a living thing!_ Her internal voice shouted in excitement. In that moment, her curiosity hit her with enough force to practically wind her as she rose to her feet. However, her mind, despite its befuddlement at that moment, didn't believe that to be the proper time to bring it up. _What the hell would I say? Hmm, ya know, Zero, this tea sure is good, by the way, are you human? Idiot!_ Angel berated herself as she stood up and stared into Zero's faceplate. Before she could blush at the closeness of Zero's 'face' to her own, he took a step back and pressed his hand to the wall, causing the hidden door to open and show her that they were only inches from where they usually hung out. Zero then led her through the small, underground room and to Moxxi's for a cup of imported tea.

_**With Axton and Gaige, Caustic Caverns**_

__"So, you just found this place?" Axton asked, looking around at the small island that sat in the middle of the acid lake. There was only a large rock with a deranged man in early 1500's style European armor who laughed softly to himself and a large, practically ancient and petrified tree with a small camp fire in front of the insane, secluded man that would mysteriously deal negative damage to any who stood near it, healing their wounds slowly over time.

"Yep! I got bored and decided to just see if it was an area that we could get to without danger. So I hopped on DT's shoulder and had him hover me over here!" Gaige replied with a smile and an almost imperceptible reddening to her cheeks.

"Sounds like you've got more free time than my ex-wife after the divorce." Axton said flatly, a faint smile on his face.

"Don't I know it!" she exasperated, flinging her arms out like wings and fell backwards onto the ground under the petrified tree. Axton released a soft chuckle.

"What?" Gaige said, looking up towards her friend and object of desire with a sheepish look.

"Nothing. I was just noticing how young you really are." Axton replied with a teasing voice and a faint smirk.

"Hey, I'm not a kid! I had my 19th birthday last week! I even invited you!" she shouted, rocking herself up into a kneeling position and poking his chest accusingly, her cheeks puffed out in frustration. Axton laughed loudly, propping himself into a backwards lean with his hands behind him, supporting his weight.

"Yeah, well, you could be 87, you still act like a kid." He said in an even more teasing tone, causing Gaige to blush and cross her arms with her eyes clenched shut. Seeing this, Axton just laughed even more, much to Gaige's chagrin.

"No fair! I can act grown up!"

"Oh, really? Prove it." Axton fired back, catching the irate girl sitting next to him off guard.

"I will!" she replied, her blush intensifying out of anger and her heart starting to flutter at his smooth tone. "As soon as I think of something…" she said, looking away from him and poking her index fingers together, her embarrassment growing to new lengths.

Axton laughed loudly, closing his eyes. At that moment, Gaige had a very, _very_ dark thought that would definitely show her companion how mature she was.

"I got it." She said in a stern voice, causing Axton to stop laughing, sobering almost instantly. "We'll go out on a date. We'll do mature stuff. Like going to a nice restaurant, watching the sky, just talking. If we make it all the way through it, it'll prove that I can be very mature. Sound fun?" she asked, her cheeks now burning with embarrassment and her eyes evading direct contact with his, but her voice remaining even and soft.

"Sure. But WHEN you get fed up with it, I get to call you Pipsqueak from then on. If on the highly unlikely chance that you make it all the way though this date without losing your cool, we might even start hanging out more often. Deal?" Axton replied in a smug tone with a smirk as he extended his hand to her.

"Deal!" she then took his hand in her mechanical one and ripped on his hand while she leaned back, pulling him unexpectedly toward her, their faces only inches apart as her eyes shifted to a look of playful desire and she began to speak again. "See you at 10," her voice was dripping with desire that he'd never expected from Gaige. She then pulled him even closer, her lips now millimeters from his ear as she finished talking. "_Jarhead. I'll be waiting at Moxxi's. Don't leave me waiting…_" Her words were so smooth, she sounded like she was at least 25 with the level of self-confidence and her words sent hot, sensual breaths to his earlobe, causing him to shiver. Following that, she released his hand, causing him to fall backwards, stunned with a mild blush on his cheeks while she stood up and digistructed Death Trap and hovered off, leaving him stunned and to his thoughts.

**End Chapter 9: Veins of Fire – Part 1.**

Alright. Hopefully you all enjoyed the character interactions in this chapter. I decided to make Gaige the type that dares themselves to do crazy things when they get ridiculously nervous. Sort of like a haze where their inhibitions just melt away. I thought it would suit her more than just getting flustered, like I think Angel would. I'm always willing to listen to your feedback about the way I play the characters and above all else, read and review! See you all in **Chapter 10: Veins of Fire – Part 2**!


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